___________

Following is from Sambada.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Statesman.

National aluminium company limited (Nalco), which was recently conferred with the prestigious Navratna status, has drawn ambitious growth plans involving massive investment of around Rs 40,000 crore in next five years.

… Sources said the second phase expansion is under implementation at an investment of Rs 4092 crore, which is scheduled to be completed by 2008 end. Even the plans are afoot for the third phase of expansion, which is likely to entail expenditure to the tune of Rs 6000 crore. Under this expansion,

• the bauxite mining capacity shall be enhanced to around 90 lakh tons,
  
• alumina refining to 30 lakh tons,
  
• aluminium smelting to 6.3 lakh tons and
  
• power generation to 1,700 MW per annum, sources said.

Among the green field projects,

• a mines and refinery complex is being planned in Andhra Pradesh. The project will involve an investment of Rs 7000 crore.
• Similarly, in Orissa, a smelter and power complex has been planned in Ib valley in Jharsuguda district at an investment of Rs 8,500 crore. This project envisages a smelter of five lakh tons capacity and a coal-based power plant of 1260 MW capacity. Pre-feasibility report has been finalised by EIL. Nalco has submitted an application for allotment of water resources to state government last month.

The new projects abroad included

• the proposed five-lakh ton smelter and a 1250 mw captive power plant in Indonesia.
• Besides, Nalco is exploring the possibilities of setting up a smelter and power plant in South Africa at an investment of around Rs 16,000 crore.

Also the company plans to set up

• an aluminium park in Angul, as a joint venture with IDCO.
  

• Similarly, it has entered into an agreement with Bharat Earth Movers Limited for the production of aluminium rail wagons. (Where ?)
  
• This apart, cement plant being another new venture for the flagship PSU, expression of interest has been invited from competent parties to set up a cement plant based on fly ash of Nalco’s power plant at Angul

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is exploring the possibility of setting up a greenfield aluminium smelter and captive power plant near Jharsuguda, western Orissa at an investment of more than Rs 14,000 crore.

The capacity of the proposed smelter is pegged at 5 lakh tonnes per annum with a captive generation facility of 1,250 mw. The alumina required for the project is likely to be sourced from Nalco’s existing refinery at Damanjodi.

Engineer’s India (EIL), which has been appointed the consultant, has found the project technically feasible.

Jharsuguda is being chosen as the possible site for the plant as it is in the vicinity of the IB valley coal reserves. While the company has the required technology, land acquisition is expected to be trouble-free as most part of the identified patch is government land and barren.

… "Yes, we have plans to set up a smelter and captive power plant in Jharsuguda to add about 9 lakh tonne alumina capacity which is exported annually now. The project’s fate does not hinge on the availability of water," B L Bagra, director (finance), Nalco, told Business Standard.

Meanwhile, the state-owned Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) has forwarded the company’s application for water from IB river to the water resources department.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Taking into consideration the growing demand for an airport at Jharsuguda, the Union government has decided to renovate the existing one …

The government has decided to opt for a public-private partnership for the work. SREI, a Calcutta-based finance company, has expressed interest and is negotiating with the government in this regard, sources said. “No final decision has been taken. A confirmation has been sought from Airport Authority of India. Their decision will be final,” said works secretary S.K. Ray.

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Pioneer.

Vedanta Aluminium Limited signed an MoU with the Apollo Health & Life Style Limited on Tuesday to open two units of The Apollo Clinics at Lanjigarh and Jharsuguda.

The MoU was signed at the Vedanta office in Bhubaneswar by M Siddiqi, Director and CEO, Aluminium Sector, Vedanta Group, and Ratan Jalan, CEO, Apollo Health & Life Style Ltd, in the presence of Vedanta Aluminium CFO Virendra Agrawal, GM and Head, PR & CSR, Prashanta Hota and other officials form both sides.

The MoU deals with the establishment and management of the two well-equipped Apollo Clinics, which would be fully supported by Vedanta Aluminium. Funded fully by Vedanta, the two units have accepted the responsibility of recruiting doctors, providing all kinds of diagnostic facilities, specialist treatment, extending other modern healthcare facilities and running the clinics at both locations.

Involving a total investment of about Rs 5 crore, the day-to-day operations would also be fully funded by Vedanta.

Besides rendering quality healthcare services to the project-impacted people and employees of Vedanta Aluminium and their dependents, the clinics would be running a Sick Bay Unit in the plant premises and regularly conduct Outreach Programmes in the periphery villages.

The following list is from www.orissatourism.gov.in/new/Identified_Tourist_Centre_of_Orissa_261207.pdf.

Following is extracted from a report in sify.com.

Maytas Infra Ltd (MIL) is an infrastructure development, construction and project management company with more than two decades of experience in execution of complex & challenging landmark projects across the country. The company recently forayed into segments such as airports, seaports, oil and gas pipelines. MIL plans to diversify into new verticals like mining and related activities, manufacture of construction material and providing advisory & consultancy services.

… MIL’s new projects include railway siding project for Vedanta Industries in Orissa, Chennai MT Project & Hyderabad MRTS project.

… Its current projects include Vedanta Aluminium’s, Residential Township in Orissa worth Rs. 232.7 crore …

… MIL in JV with other firms is currently working on setting up 464MW Gas based Gautami Power project in AP, 100MW Sorang Hydro Power Project in Himachal Pradesh, 300MW KVK Nilachal thermal power project in Orissa and 56MW coal washery reject based SV Power project.

 

Following is culled from various sources, including Samaja and Pioneer. The 11 projects that have been cleared or partially cleared are:

1. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd’s proposed power plant in Sundargarh. An investment of Rs 18,000 crore has been made for the project which will produce 3,200 megawatt of power.
2. Proposed Air Separation unit factory by British Oxygen which will come up at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district. It will produce 1800 tons of oxygen daily. It will need 15 acres of land and will invest 838 crores.
3. Jindal Stainless Ltd’s Rs 4,090 crore proposed power plant. The project will come up at Gajamara in Dhenkanal. The power plant will produce 1,000 megawatt.
4. Aarti Steel’s Rs 2,065 crore power plant at Ghantakhal in Athagarha
5. Salivahan Green Energy Ltd’s power project at Nimidha in Dhenkanal
6. Hind Metal and Industries Pvt Ltd (HMIL) Rs 237.10 crore plant at Meramunduli in Dhenkanal
7. Kalinga Energy and Power Ltd’s Rs 4261.27 crore project at Babuchakuli in Sambalpur
8. JSW Energy Ltd’s Rs9189.7 crore project at Chiplima in Sambalpur
9. Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd’s Rs 4993.98 crore project at Siaria in Dhenkanal
10. Ind Barath Energy Ltd (IBEL)’s Rs1007.69 crore power plant at Banaharpali in Jharsuguda.
11. Expansion of Balasore alloys.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the New Indian Express.

The State Government will seek Central assistance of Rs 45 crore under the Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for the current fiscal.

The Centre has introduced the new additional Central assistance scheme to incentivise the State which exceed plan expenditure consecutively in the last three years.

… The committee approved the proposals of the Agriculture Department, which has sought an assistance of Rs 10.10 crore for managing acid soil to boost agriculture production, Rs 8.8 crore for popularisation of farm mechanisation and Rs 2.52 crore for systematic rice intensification in areas having low rice production.

Under the rice intensification programme, field demonstration will be taken up where farmers will be educated on how to get higher yield with less use of seeds, water and fertilisers, official sources said.

The department has asked an assistance of Rs 2 crore for strengthening soil testing service, Rs 1.06 crore for bio-fertiliser application for pulses and oilseeds and Rs 55.55 lakh for promotion of organic farming through vermi hatchery and blue green algae.

It has also proposed to set up seed processing plant in Gajapati, Kendrapara and Jharsuguda districts and modernise the agriculture information wing in the city and at Sambalpur with an investment of Rs 1.80 crore and Rs 1.18 crore respectively.

Since the Centre will provide the additional assistance in two streams, the total estimate for 12 projects in the first stream is Rs 28.83 crore. Seventy-five percent of the additional Central assistance is for programme implementation while the remaining 25 percent is to bridge resource gap in the State plan.

The Government will ask Rs 15.94-crore Central assistance under the stream-II out of which Rs 4 crore will be for strengthening its implement factory at Satyanagar, Rs 2.45 crore for infrastructure development and strengthening the training centres (gram sevak kendras), Rs 7 crore for construction of 17 seed storage godowns and Rs 2 crore for establishment of agro-service centres at gram panchayat level.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and neighbouring towns will be developed into a greater urban complex of international standards catering to the needs of 42 lakh people by 2030.

The final perspective plan to this effect was presented to chief minister Naveen Patnaik here today by a team from IIT, Kharagpur. B.K. Sengupta, heading the team, said the comprehensive development plan for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Choudwar, Khurda and Jatni would be ready by August 2008.

Subsequently, development plans would be prepared for places like Rourkela, Puri, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Talcher-Angul, Kalinga Nagar and Jharsuguda industrial complex, said state urban development minister K.V. Singhdeo.

The final perspective plan has envisaged comprehensive development of a greater urban complex comprising twin cities of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and three adjoining towns spread over 721sqkm at an estimated cost of Rs 34,000 crore.

The required funds would be mobilised through public-private partnership, central government and state government and community contribution, said the urban development minister.

While 11 special zones have been earmarked for extensive development, four have been identified for intensive development and three places (Old Bhubaneswar, Choudwar and Old Cuttack) having heritage value have been set aside for restricted development. Seven sensitive pockets have also been identified.

A patch of farmland on the east of the Kuakhai flowing near Bhubaneswar has also been earmarked for agriculture. The final perspective plan has dwelt on various aspects like transport, traffic decongestion, upgrade of road system, slum development and drainage. Construction of overhead bridges and bypass and the upgrade of road systems have also been planned.

Drainage and sewerage development has also been planned in the twin cities.

A solid waste management plant has been proposed in Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar-Cuttack would be made slum-free. The shanties would be removed and the dwellers would be resettled in planned rehabilitation colonies to be built by private builders on the Dharavi model in Mumbai.

Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report on this.

Tata’s budget hotel chain Ginger is expected to open doors to foodies in Paradip and Konark by the end of 2008.

Chief executive officer of Roots Corporation, Prabhat Pani said, they have already acquired one acre of land each in both these towns and would start construction in the next two months. Plans are also afoot to come up with a Ginger hotel in industrial towns like Jharsuguda, Angul and Kalinga Nagar in the next couple of years.

Roots Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Group and manages the Ginger chain of hotels. The company entered into the State in September last year with the launch of Ginger in the city.

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report.

The Assembly Committee on Industry has suggested that dedicated industrial parks should be set up for micro, small and medium scale industries in Kalinga Nagar, Jharsuguda, Paradip, Rayagada, Angul and Dhenkanal in view of the large number of mega industries coming up in several industrial zones in the State.

In its latest report, the committee said such parks should be specially earmarked for ancillary and downstream industries. It observed that considering the importance of the small and medium enterprises in employment generation and economic growth of the State, priority attention should be given for the revival and promotion of these sectors.

Official sources maintained that till November, 2006, investment in these two sectors had touched Rs 2,652.8 crore with employment generation of 5.48 lakh. Cluster approach has been adopted for development of small scale industries and major clusters have been identified for development and marketing linkage with the assistance of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

The panel, however, observed that though 45 MoUs had been signed for establishment of steel plants in the State, progress has not been satisfactory. Of these, 20 companies have invested Rs 12,085 crore and started commercial production by December, 2006. These companies have created direct employment opportunities for 9,131 persons.

In the steel sector, investment has been estimated at Rs 1,86,499 crore with a total capacity of 73.43 million ton per annum. In the aluminium sector, two companies have signed MoUs with a proposed investment of Rs 25,000 crore.

Indian Oil Corporation is also setting up a refinery and petrochemical complex of 15 million ton capacity per annum with an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. Official sources said a chemical and petrochemical investment region is proposed to be set up at Paradip.

The committee has suggested that polytechnics should be established in all districts of the State and industrial training centres in all the block headquarters.

Besides, the 10 ITIs in the State should be upgraded gradually with 75 percent Central assistance, it added.

Update: The Orissa government’s tourism web page has additional information on the Shamuka beach project.

Following is an excerpt on this from Expresshospitality.com.

Shamuka Beach in Orissa near Puri is being developed as a high-end luxury tourism destination by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation. The department has acquired a 1000 acre property south of Puri, and is in the process of acquiring 2000 acres more. It is a natural island and is being developed by the name Shamuka Beach project. Divulging further details about the project, Asit K Tripathi, secretary, Orissa Tourism, says, "It is going to be one of India’s best integrated, dedicated and up market tourism project, with only 5-star hotels. We had advertised and the response has been overwhelming. We have got responses from leading players in the country as well as abroad. ITC-Welcomgroup, the DLF-Hilton combine, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, IHHR’s Ananda Spa, Casino Group of Hotels Earth (CGH Earth), The Oberoi Group, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Marriott International, and Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific have all shown interest. We can allot land to approximately 20 national and international hotel brands. We are coming out with a blue print to develop infrastructure. The third stage will be to establish a golf course and convention center. This will raise the value of Orissa as a leisure destination." "Although we have 934 hotels in Orissa and 2000 rooms, the majority cater to primarily low spending groups, and the rest target high spending tourists or corporates. With this initiative, within 1-2 years, we will have more quality rooms," says Devi Prasad Mishra, tourism minister, Orissa. Samukha Beach and Puri, as well as industrial growth centers like Paradeep, Talcher, Kalinganagar, as well as Jharsuguda and Angul have generated interest from the hospitality industry in recent times – especially budget hotels and business hotels. The no-frills brand of The Indian Hotels Company, Ginger Hotels opened their first hotel in Bhubaneshwar. Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific plans to open its Radisson Hotels & Resorts in Chilika, Puri and Bhubaneswar. Cabana Group, the master licensee of the world-renowned chain of hotels – Best Western International from California is setting-up an international standard culinary college cum 5-star property in Bhubaneswar, and is eyeing Puri to develop the brand.

Following up on the ad that appeared in Samaja, there have been several reports with more details. Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report.

The airline will operate eight-seater aircraft from the Capital City to places like Barbil, Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, Jeypore, Sambalpur and Rayagada.

Ticket fare to Barbil would cost around Rs 5000 and to Jeypore Rs 7000. For corporate flyers and individuals buying to and fro tickets, a 40 percent discount can be availed of as an introductory offer.

General Manager (operations) Sumit Mukherjee said, those buying one-way ticket would also be given a 30 percent concession. Talking to mediapersons here, he said, the airline had already positioned one Islander BN2T turboprop aircraft capable of short takeoff and landing on these routes.

The travelling time would vary from 50 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Services would run on all days expect Sundays. A Bell 206 BIII helicopter with four seats would be introduced for charter service, he said. Sky Airways is a division of New Delhi-based GSI Pvt. Ltd and is headquartered in Kolkata.

… “We will introduce two aircraft to these places with a seating capacity for 19 passengers before the end of the current year.”

Another news item mentioned that they plan to fly from such towns to Kolkata in the future.

Following is a bit of information on Sky Airways:

• A report in Telegraph mentions the following:

… Sky Airways (backed by the M.L. Agarwal group, with business interests in Orissa�s mining and steel sectors) …

The following ad in Samaja gives highlights of two recently launched schemes in agriculture:

• National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
  • The 15 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Rice scheme (as given in page 40 of the above document) are Angul, Balangir, Boudha, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Nawapara, Nawarangpur, Nayagarh, Phulbani, and Sundargarh.
  • The 10 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Pulse scheme (as given in page 43 of the above document) are Balangir, Baragarh, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Rayagada.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY)

Follow are excerpts from a Statesman report.

The high powered committee headed by chief secretary Mr Ajit Tripathy today cleared 16 investment proposals, entailing an investment of approximately Rs 30,000 crore.

The projects mainly in the power, steel, aluminium and cement sectors were amongst the 40 project proposals placed before the committee. There were three steel and three power projects amongst the 16 which got the nod today.

Significantly while the Ashapura mines chemicals project proposal for a aluminium refinery was approved, the aluminium project of IMFA Group headed by Dr Bansidhar Panda was held up.

… two task forces had been constituted to further evaluate the proposals in the cement and power sectors. The Industry secretary will head the task force for cement sector projects while the development commissioner will be in charge of the task force for power projects, …

The power projects cleared by the committee today included the Bhusan Energy project which intends to establish a 2,000 MW thermal power plant at Angul with an investment of Rs 8,483 crore. The Visa Power Limited’s 1,000 mw Thermal Power plant at Brhamnabasta in Cuttack district at a cost of Rs 3,698 crore was also cleared while the third power project was of Monnet Energy at Sundergarh. It will be a 1,000 mw plant.

The Rs 4,232 crore aluminium project of Ashpura Mines Chemicals to come up in Koraput district was cleared. It aims at setting up a 5 lakh ton refinery and a 1.5 lakh ton smelter plant besides having a 300 MW captive power plant .

The Committee approved the three new steel plant projects and the expansion of existing five steel projects in the state.

Bonei Industry company’s project to set up a plant at Sundergarh at a cost of Rs 302 crore, M/s Rungta Sons Ltd’s proposal to set up a steel plant at Barmunda at a cost of Rs 930 crore and Free Grade company Ltd’s steel plant at Dhenkanal at a cost of Rs 603 crore were also cleared.

Expansion proposals of SMC Power Generation and MSP Mettalics at Jharsuguda, Braja Ispat, Rourkela and the Keonjhar Orient Ispat were given the go ahead by the committee.

ACC Cement’s proposal for investment of Rs 400 crore for its capacity development was approved while Goa Carbons Ltd’s proposal for a CPC coke plant with an investment of Rs 225 crore was also cleared.

The project will use water from the Ib river. Following is Samaja’s article on this.

Business standard reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

After low-cost airlines, it is the turn of no-frill and low-cost airports. In a bid to encourage regional airlines and provide air links to small cities and towns, nearly 25 greenfield or unutilised airport projects have been identified by various states, which will be up for bidding by the private sector. …

A no-frill airport is built at a minimum cost and allows operation of small jets as well as slightly bigger aircraft like Boeing’s B737 or Airbus’ A320. The investment in such an airport could range from Rs 40 crore to Rs 100 crore. …

The places identified for the purpose include Hassan, Shimoga, Gulbarga, Bidar, Mysore (all in Karnataka), Shirdi, Jalgaon, Solapur, Akola (all in Maharashtra), Kannur (Kerala), Madurai, Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu), Rupsi (Assam), Ajmer, Mount Abu, Kailashar (Rajasthan), Behala, Cooch Behar, Malda (West Bengal), Jharsuguda(Orissa), Muzaffurpur (Bihar), Kamalpur (Tripura) and Passighat (Arunachal Pradesh). …

A budget airline executive said, “A low-cost airport can be constructed at a cost of Rs 100 crore, including land cost. Such an airport can increase its revenue through retail outlets, entertainment sources and hospitality projects.” …

A government official said the airports could act as operational bases of regional airlines. “The identification of regional hubs could be made on the basis of origin-destination surveys, traffic demand and the requirements of airlines,” he added.

Business Standard reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

Canadian metal giant Alcan today announced an agreement to sell its 45 per cent stake in Utkal Alumina to the Aditya Birla group’s Hindalco Industries for an undisclosed sum.

The Utkal joint venture was established in 1992 between the Birlas and Alcan, with the Birlas owning the remaining 55 per cent of the equity. The venture involved the development of a new bauxite mine and alumina refinery in Orissa. …

“Alcan will have no surviving rights or obligations as Hindalco becomes the 100 per cent owner of the Utkal project,” it said. The Indian company expects the deal to be closed in the next 30 days. …

The project has been marred by controversy, with local residents opposing its construction on the plea that it will displace three villages and at least 200 families. Local critics have estimated that as many as 22,000 people could be affected. In December 2000, there was a clash between villagers and police in Maikanch over land acquisition. Three tribals were killed in the police firing that followed. Utkal was initially established as a joint venture between Hindalco, Alcan and Hydro Norsk. The shareholding was shared between Indal, now a part of Hindalco at 20 per cent; Alcan at 35 per cent and Norsk Hydro with 45 per cent. Norsk Hydro later sold its stake to the other two partners.

Business Wire reports that Invensys Process Systems has been selected by Shandong No. 3 Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO III) of China to implement Foxboro I/A Series distributed control systems (DCS) for a 3,600-megawatt generating station being built in Jharsuguda. Following are some quotes from that report.

Extensive Invensys experience in the power industry (including a large number of projects in China) and expertise in large-scale projects were important factors in the SEPCO III contract award to Invensys.

The DCS contract will encompass an advanced I/A Series automation infrastructure integrating more than 63,000 I/O points. The systems will be used to control the new plant’s boilers, turbines and generators utilizing Invensys’ Performance Plus coordinated control system (CCS) technology, well-proven in power plants worldwide. Subsystem applications will include data acquisition system (DAS), furnace safety supervisory system (FSSS), boiler and turbine sequence control system (SCS), turbine digital electro-hydraulic (DEH) control system, feed water pump mechanical electro-hydraulic (MEH) control system, and electric control systems (ECS).

In addition to I/A Series automation hardware and software, Invensys Process Systems China will also provide a range of installation services, engineering, training, and field service.

The plant is part of the “Power for All” initiative, an aggressive Indian government plan to sustain economic growth with significant additions of power generation capacity in the next few years. The new power plant project is one of the largest projects for SEPCO III, and comprises China’s largest export machinery and equipment order to India.

About Shandong No. 3 Electric Power Construction Corporation

Shandong No. 3 Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO III) is part of Shandong Electric Power Group Corporation and is a leading power EPC contractor for thermal plants, nuclear plants, gas-fired and hydropower stations. SEPCO III was one of the first Chinese power contractors to enter the global market, and has more than 160 generation units of contract experience in China and around the world, including a range of public power and captive power projects in India. Capable of providing the full range of EPC services from its experienced professional staff, SEPCO III is headquartered in Shandong, China.

About Invensys

The Invensys Group (www.invensys.com) is headquartered in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, with approximately 30,000 employees working in 60 countries.

I think this is a part of one of the Power MOUs signed last october.