___________

As per this page in the document prepared by IIT Kharagpur the population of the above complex in 2008 is 1.9 million.

Following is an excerpt from a report in domain-b.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest exporter of information technology and IT-backed products, has opened a 1,000-seat software development centre at Bhubaneswar – TCS Kalinga Park – as the company extends its presence to Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

…  Spread over 45 acres of land, TCS Kalinga Park will have a capacity of 7,000 seats at full capacity, he added.

With over 70 per cent of campus hiring at TCS taking place at Tier II and Tier III cities, these centres will drive growth for the company,  he said.

TCS Kalinga Park, an approved special export zone (SEZ), also boasts of the country’s first Energy and Environmental Design (Leed)-rated IT campus.

Planning Commission secretary S Pani, who was instrumental in providing a boost to the IT sector in Orissa, said Bhubaneswar has the potential to become a major IT hub with at least 50,000 software developers.

The Tata Group, which has so far invested in a Ginger hotel and the TCS software development centre in Orissa, will also be investing in a mega-steel plant in the state.

”Orissa, regarded as a late starter in the nineties had emerged as a favored IT destination due to the congenial work environment and effective policy initiatives, ” said chief minister Naveen Patnaik while inaugurating the TSC Kalinga Park.

The chief minister also said the state government will soon get into the e-governance mode for all procurement and tendering processeses.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… the proposed software development centre of IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will be inaugurated on January 5 next year. The first tower of TCS which will be inaugurated in the city’s Infocity campus will have a capacity to accommodate around 1,500 employees.

“… Wipro’s second campus in the city is also scheduled to be inaugurated within a month”, said Vishal Dev, director, IT department of the Orissa government at an International Conference on IT, held at the Xavier Institute of Management.

TCS is developing its software centre in the city on a 54-acre plot in the Infocity campus. While the first tower of TCS is scheduled to be inaugurated early next month, the company is expected to add two to three towers within three months.

From their descriptions these outlets sound similar to the Home Depot, Lowes kind of stores in the US. Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Eyeing the fast growing construction market, leading cement company Ultratech is planning to open 400 new unique retail outlets across the country, including many more in Orissa soon.

…  Ultratech Cement Ltd (UCL), a part of India’s global conglomerate Aditya Birla group, has opened five UBS retail outlets in Orissa’s Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack.

This was the first ever entry of UBS retail outlets in the growing construction markets of Orissa and the company plans to open many more such outlets in the state.

Its 89 existing outlets are currently operational in states like Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and plans are afoot to add six more states due to the success obtained in the existing ones, according to UCL’s chief marketing officer O P Puranmalka.

As many as 400 such outlets are planned to be opened across the country in 2009 offering a wide spectrum of end-to-end home-building solutions, high quality construction materials and allied value-added services, he said.

Describing UBS as a unique concept, he said in a release it was being launched in a big way in Orissa, a fast growing construction market in the eastern region.

Advocating our ‘plan, build and support’ philosophy, it seeks to enhance the shopping experience of the customers as well as to strengthen existing trade partnership by upgrading the service proposition, he said.

At UBS outlets, visitors can get reputed brands of all construction materials including cement, aggregates, bricks, tiles, sanitary fittings, paints, water-proofing compounds and white cement, the release said.

The outlets also provide value added services including mobile concrete testing vans for conducting quality tests as well as architects, contractors, vaastu consultants and other construction personne.

They have technical teams which train masons and contractors besides offering advice on legal formalities and plan approval procedures.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Ayush Hospital and Trauma Care Limited has drawn up a plan to set up its second multi-speciality hospital in the city at an investment of about Rs 200 crore. The proposed hospital would be equipped with over 500 beds and it is expected to be operational by 2012.

… “We will shortly approach the Orissa government for allotting us 8-10 acres of land in or around the city for our proposed multi-speciality hospital. The construction work for this hospital is expected to resume next year.”

The new hospital will offer treatment across wide range of specialities like trauma care, oncology, neurosciences, gastroenterology, gastro intestinal surgery, spine and knee replacement surgery and cardiac care to name a few. The hospital would have separate and dedicated units for each of these specialities.

Acharya said that expansion of beds and other facilities could not be taken up at the existing Ayush Hospital in the city due to space constraints and the new multi-speciality hospital will be run by a pool of 1,000-1,500 professionals, including doctors and the paramedical staff.

He said, Ayush Hospital is prepared to reserve 15 per cent of the beds in the proposed multi-speciality hospital for BPL (below poverty line) families and extend free treatment to them if the state government provided support in the form of allotment of land. Ayush Hospital was also keen on imparting training to the government doctors at the sub-divisional level.

… Acharya pointed out that Ayush Hospital plans to set up a telemedicine facility in the hospital so that people staying in remote villages can have access to its doctors for consultation.

The existing 120-bed Ayush Hospital in the city offers treatment to patients like neurology, cardiology, nephrology, plastic surgery, urology, gastroenterology and spine surgery. The hospital’s objective is to reverse the exodus of patients from the state by offering the latest healthcare facilities to the people at an affordable cost.

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa information technology department (IT) expects the construction work of the approach road for the proposed Infocity-II project to kick off by January next year. Infocity-II is being developed on an area of over 600 acres at Janla, on the outskirts of the city by January next year.

“The state government is committed to provide external infrastructure like approach road, electricity and power for the proposed Infocity-II project. This external infrastructure will be developed at an investment of about Rs 150 crore and a provision has already been made in the state government’s budget for this investment”, Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary told Business Standard.

He said that the state IT department was now on the look-out for anchor tenants for the Infocity-II project and software major Wipro Technologies had evinced interest in taking possession of 100 acres of land at the site. Official sources, however said that the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) may delay the process of floating advertisements for the Infocity-II project in the wake of economic downturn.

“Due to the global financial meltdown, IT majors like MindTree and Genpact are likely to defer construction work of their proposed development centres in Orissa by at least three months. The state government is also unlikely to receive fresh investment proposals from the IT and ITes (information technology services) players in the remaining months of this fiscal”, sources added.

MindTree Consulting Limited, a global IT and R&D services company had announced to resume construction of its proposed software development centre, over an area of 30 acres at Infocity in Bhubaneswar by September this year.

The company, co-headquartered in Bangalore and Somerset in New Jersey (US), is investing around Rs 200 crore for the development centre. MindTree was planning to recruit about 1,000 software professionals for the centre and eventually ramp up its headcount to 5,000.

On the other hand, the proposed global delivery centre of Genpact, the BPO (business process outsourcing) arm of US-based General Electric was scheduled to be operational by the third or fourth quarter of 2009. The BPO firm had plans to hire around 500 professionals initially for this centre and later scale up its headcount to 3,000 in the long run.

… The software exports from the state stood at about Rs 850 crore in 2007-08 and the state IT department had set a target of software exports worth Rs 5,000 crore by the end of 2011-12.

…With a headcount of around 3,000 in its Bhubaneswar centre, Infosys has targeted software exports of around Rs 800 crore from the city.

While Infosys recruited 700 people from Orissa in 2007-08, Wipro Technologies added 400 to its workforce from the state in the same period.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

Thirty six important projects worth Rs 19,800 crore are being implemented by the Orissa government under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

These projects are in the field of new ports, roads, integrated commercial complex, ITIs, tourism projects, integrated residential complex, bus terminals, info park and multi product SEZs among others.

… the important projects taken up for development in PPP mode include

• Rs 3500 crore Shamuka Beach Project
• Rs 562 crore Bhubaneswar-Puri road
• Rs 304 crore Capital Region Ring Road project
• Rs 493 crore integrated residential township at Suango and Ranasinghapur
• International Convention Centre at Bhubaneswar (Rs 480 crore)
• Rs 2469 crore Dhamra port and Rs 1700 crore Gopalpur port
• Rs 594.34 crore Haridaspur-Paradeep broad gauge rail link
• Rs 2000 crore Kirtania port
• Rs 712 crore multi-product SEZ at Paradip are being set up in the PPP mode.

…, the Empowered Committee on Infrastructure (ECI) has cleared

• the proposal for appointment of consultant to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for the Capital Region Ring Road Project (CRRR)
• the proposal for the feasibility study of the Bhubaneswar-Paradip road with revised concept.
• the issue of Request for Proposal (RFP) for setting up 4/5 five star hotels in the Shamuka Beach near Puri; 11 firms are shortlisted after the Request for Qualification (RFQ)
• the 4 -laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela road to seek the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) assistance from the department of economic affairs (DEA).

The proposal for developing an integrated residential township at Suanga and Ranasinghapur near Bhubaneswar has been placed before the government for approval. 

The other on-going projects include

• Rs 68 crore Palasapanga- Bamberi road,
• Gopalpur port,
• Dhamra Port,
• Rs 480 crore international convention centre at Bhubaneswar,
• Rs 146 crore IT and Corporate Tower (Bhubaneswar),
• Rs 500 crore Info Park (Bhubaneswar),
• Rs 35.67 crore Knowledge park,
• Rs 352 crore SEZ-BPO at Mancheswar,
• Rs 76 crore Commercial and IT Complex at Rourkela.

Following is an excerpt from a repot in expressbuzz.com.

Oxford Bookstore opened its first outlet in Bhubaneswar here on Friday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the bookstore located at Pal Heights.

He signed books penned by his sister Gita Mehta and interacted with the children. Naveen also said he would return to browse the books at the store soon.The premium bookstore chain’s first outlet in State Capital is located over 1500 sqft and would share space with Cha Bar which offers select brews from all significant tea growing regions of the world.Priti Paul, Director Apeejay Surrendra Group of which Oxford is a retail arm said the store will offer a vast range of books for all ages and interests including a large selection from Orissa and Oriya writers. An entire section will be dedicated to books connected to Orissa and the best in India as well as international publishing. Among others, Law Minister Biswabhusan Harichandan was also present.

The Pal Heights location is 500 mts north of the Jayadev Vihar – NH 5 crossing and 500 mts from many other hotels (Mayfair Lagoon, Swosti plaza and Ginger.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

"As India has been declared as diabetes capital of the world, a world class diabetes care facility is badly needed in the country," director of Cuttack Diabetes Research Foundation (CDRF), Dr Alok Kanungo, told reporters here.

Billed as the first of its kind in eastern India, the ultra modern Rs 15 crore Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) would be inaugurated here by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on November 14, coinciding with the World Diabetes Day, he said.

World centres like Karolinska institute of Sweden which decides Nobel prize in medicine has joined hands with KIDS and CDRF to extend all technical support for advance research and training, said Kanungo.

"The institute will be equipped with latest equipment, trained manpower, fully computerised systems and everything which is required for diabetes management," he said adding it would be a boon for not only Orissa, home to over 30 lakh diabetics, but for entire eastern India.

Diabetics are 25 times more likely to turn blind, 17 times more prone to kidney ailment and three times more prone to heart disease, said Kanungo.

Kids would initially have a 100-bed hospital block, out patient block to handle 1000 patients per day for treatment, major and minor operation theatres, foot care, eyecare, kedney, cardiology, neurology, nutrition, physiotherapy and other departments.

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

The State is all set to have a shipbuilding factory at Charidiha near Dhamara in Bhadrak. It will be the first such private sector venture in eastern India.

The Apeejay Surrendra Group and Bharati Shipyard Limited would set up the ultra-modern ship-manufacturing factory jointly with an investment of Rs 2,200 crore. In the first phase, Rs 900 crore will be invested in the project.

Chairman and Managing Director of Surrendra Group Karan Paul and Managing Director of Bharati Shipyard Limited Bijaya Kumar on Friday called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat and discussed about the implementation of the project. Discussions were mainly held on the land acquisition process and other necessary clearance needed for the project. As per the provision, the work for the shipyard project will commence from January 2009 and would be completed by 2011.

The factory will have both ship-manufacturing as well as repairing facilities. The project would create job opportunity for 41,000 people directly and indirectly. 7,000 people would directly avail job opportunities in the shipbuilding factory. The State Government would get revenue to the tune of Rs 20 crore per annum from the project.

The oil rig factory would come up with the help of Oceanic Shipyard Limited, a joint venture of both Apeejay Surrendra Group and Bharati Shipyard Limited. It would be completed in three phases. The growth taking place in the steel sector in State would be of great helping for the shipbuilding factory, Government officials said.

In the first phase, 75,000 tonne of steel will be used for establishing the ship making factory. In the second phase, the project will require 2,30,000 tonne of steel, and 4,50,000 tonne in the third phase.

The company is planning to set up an industrial training centre at Dhamara area to train its prospective employees. The Apeejay Surrendra Group has also expressed its willingness to set up a research and design centre and a Knowledge Park at Bhubaneswar.

Update: As suggested by a reader see also this article in Business Today.

Following is an excerpt from a report in pr-inside.com.

5. Bhubaneshwar: Bhubaneshwar is increasingly seen as an attractive city to a wide variety of potential investors. Over the last three years, nearly Rs. 6,00,000 crore of investments have already been committed in Orissa.

-South Korean steel major POSCO and the world’s largest steel company, Arcelor Mittal, have each announced Rs 50,000-crore plans to set up 12-million-tonne steel plants in the state. Then, Tata Steel has committed investments of Rs 25,000 crore; it is setting up a 6 million-tonne steel plant at Kalinga Nagar, a port in Damra and plans a SEZ in Gopalpur. Naturally, a lot of their offices and other infrastructure will come up in Bhubaneswar.

Other cities mentioned in that report are: Lucknow/Kanpur, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Surat and Bhopal.

Following is from a report in livemint.

… Bharat Biotech International Ltd, a producer of vaccines and biotherapeutics announced that the Orissa government has selected the company as the developer for its ‘Biotech-Pharma-IT Park’ project under public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

The proposed industrial park is coming up on a 54.86 acre land located at Mouza-Andharua in Bhubaneswar.

BBIL will promote a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to undertake the integrated industrial park. The project is estimated to cost Rs100 crore and is slated to be complete in eight years, a press release issued here stated.

“Our task is to focus on rapid development of this park by developing core infrastructure and technology to enable establishment of new companies whereby new local entrepreneurs in the biotechnology field will be created,” BBIL Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Ella said in the release.

About 10 acre land, within the park, is earmarked for development of biotechnology incubation centre, which will be funded by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, for the equipment or instrumentation.

A formal lease-cum-development agreement will be signed between the SPV and Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO).

The Orissa government and IDCO, in principle, have agreed to provide all the external infrastructure facilities like power supply, water supply among others, the release added.

Following is an excerpt from a report in hospitalitybizindia.com.

Swosti Group is redesigning two of its upcoming resorts according to chartered tourist requirements, since both properties were initially designed for individual and MICE segments. Puri’s Swosti Chandan Spa Resort and the company’s upcoming resort at Chilka, Orissa will undergo a number of redesigning and renovation processes as they target chartered segments (in large numbers), instead of regular tourists.

About this sudden change in plans, S Patnaik, General Manager, Swosti Group, told Hospitalitybiz, “We have experienced a sudden influx of MICE travellers in Bhubaneswar; this has resulted in many hospitality giants commissioning projects in the state capital. Similarly, other places in the state, especially Puri and Chilka, will be ideal to host chartered segments. Moreover, the segment’s favourite Indian destinations like Goa and Kerala are exceeding their carrying capacity; therefore, chartered operators are now looking for other options.”

The number of chartered flights to Puri is increasing from 180 to 250. Hence, Swosti Group is already in talks with leading chartered tour operators in India, who have exhibited an interest in the suggested places and upcoming properties. “Our Puri property was earlier designed with 70 rooms, but the inventory has been hiked to 100 rooms in favour of hosting chartered groups. The Chilka property, which has not been named as yet, will offer 50 cottages to start with, while it will be somewhat experimental with chartered tourists. The Chilka property will upgrade rapidly if it did well with the mentioned segment,” informed Patnaik. Slated to start operations in October 2008, both properties will take another few months to start. “The season for this segment (to visit India) is from October – March 2008,” added Patnaik. He added that even though the company will lose out on most of the season, it wishes to atleast begin catering to some chartered tourists.

On the other changes in terms of architect and design, Patnaik said that both properties will highlight their swimming pool as it is the biggest attraction for the chartered segment. The resorts will be equipped with bigger lawns and additional private areas as the segment does not appreciate external disturbance from other guests. “We are working on the properties’ sloping structures and the proximity of the pools and beaches from the resorts,” informed Patnaik.

…  We are inclining our properties towards chartered tourists as we will be able to provide them with the peace and serenity that they seek.” Swosti Group is also interested in presenting Buddhist tourism to this segment, in a new light.

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 FAX: PMO at 23016857 , 23015603 (Delhi STD code is 11), CMO at 674 2590 833 (home) 674 2535 100 (office) and Planning Commission at 23096699

To:

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

Cc: Mr. Naveen Patniak, Chief Minister of Orissa

Cc: Shri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, Governor of Orissa

 
Subject: Solving the greater Kandhamala problem – going after the root cause in a war footing

Dear Dr. Singh: 

While the civil society in Orissa, the nation and the world is disturbed by the  communal violence in Kandhamala, I would urge you to take steps to eradicate the root cause of the violence in Kandhamala and the nearby tribal, hilly, forested, awfully connected, poor and backward districts of Orissa (and its neighboring states). In this regard, please note that the violence did not spread to the major towns and cities of Orissa (such as Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore etc.)  that are well connected (by Rail and roads), decently developed and have a civil society. 

While the violence involving the murder of Swami Laxmanananda on August 23^rd 2008 and the subsequent communal violence that has taken about 40 lives is most deplorable and is in the forefront of the media, please also recall the following events that also took place within the last year in these areas:

1. February 15 2008:  400 to 500 armed Naxals raided the Nayagarh armory and killed 15 people including 13 policemen.
2. June 29 2008: 30 elite anti-insurgency policemen were killed by Maoists near Malkangiri.
3. July 16 2008:  21 Orissa policemen were killed in a land mine explosion and firing by the ultras in Malkangiri.
4. Dec 27 2007: Eleven churches were ransacked and torched in several areas of Kandhamal district.

Please note that these events happened in places in Orissa (Nayagarh, Malkangiri and Kandhamal) that are badly connected, near or within forests, have a large tribal population, and are among the most backward districts of India. The following map shows these districts are surrounded by large tracts of dense and open forested areas, and partly explains why the naxalites and Maoists are able to make them their base and why it has been difficult to deploy adequate police there in a timely manner.

Sir: As an economist and a world leader you must know that lack of connectivity, lack of development, lack of a civil society, entrenched forest and mountainous areas together with a different population base is a recipe for the sprouting of troubled areas. This is true all across the world; from J& K and North eastern areas of India to caucuses in Asia. While one cannot and should not get rid of the mountains or the people, the problem can be solved by making the areas well connected and bringing development. The Indian government is doing that in J & K and in the northeast; but has mostly forgotten about the similar areas in Orissa, Chhatisgrah, and Andhra Pradesh, which are the favorite bases of the Naxals and Maoists.

Sir: We would like you to pay the same attention to these areas in terms of connectivity, development, and creation of civil societies, as you do to the North east and J & K. In particular we would request that following be done in a war footing during the 11^th plan.

(i)                  The Vijaywada-Ranchi highway that passes through many of these areas be completed.

(ii)                Broadband connectivity be brought to these districts with adequate access locations.

(iii)                Two Railway lines, parts of which have already been sanctioned by the Railways but are progressing slowly, are completed and made operational. Those lines are:

a.       Khurda Rd – Balangir (passes through Nayagarh and Boudh) – This line was sanctioned in 1994-95 is progressing very slowly.

b.      Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh) – Malkangiri – Jeypore – Nabarangpur – Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd – passing through Kandhamala – Boudh – Angul – Talcher – Bimlagarh: Several segments of these lines are approved but progressing slowly. Those segments are Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd and Talcher – Bimlagarh. Angul – Talcher is operational.

(iv)              With the above lines operational, development should be brought into Kandhamal, Boudh, Gajapati, and KBK districts (including Kalahandi and Malkangiri) through 1-2 Rail factories and public sector units that can use the steel and aluminum and power produced in abundance in Orissa.

(v)                Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a university in Kandhamala and another in Kalahandi.

(vi)              A branch of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University be established in one of these districts.

(vii)             Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a government medical college and nursing college in Kandhamala or Boudha district.

Sir:  In regards to the cost of establishing the Railway lines, please note that as per the calculation in  http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ Indian Railways is scheduled to make a profit of 2679.72 crores/year from its operations in Orissa. If 1500 crores of this money (the rest may go to Indian Railway’s current plans for Orissa) is put into Orissa, in just 2-3 years the above mentioned lines could be completed.

Sir: We sincerely hope that you will translate the great concern you have shown towards the recent violent events to the above mentioned action items that address the key issues of lack of connectivity and development in these areas and thus provide a long term and real solution.

Sincerely

Appendix:

1. Estimated profit Indian Railways will make from Orissa in 2008-09:

2.  One of the earlier planning commissions has noted in http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc

“Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

3. The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:  Malkangiri  58.36% ST  (+19.96% SC),  Rayagada 56.04% ST  (+14.28% SC),  Nabarangpur 55.27% ST (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% ST (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95%  ST(+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% ST (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% ST (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% ST (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% ST (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88%  ST(+8.77% SC). 

4. The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

5. Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) will prepare a project report for setting up of a mega food park at Malipada near Khurda, about 30 km from Bhubaneswar. It will study the feasibility, plan for infrastructure within the park, formulate promotional and marketing strategies among others. …

The latest initiative of the state government assumes importance as the Union government is encouraging establishment of food processing parks and has already announced a grant of Rs 1500 crore for 30 mega food processing parks in the country by the end of 2008.

Though none of the proposed mega food parks in the country has been notified yet, the state government will send a proposal to the Union ministry on setting up of a food processing in Orissa, said the sources. In case the Union government does not approve the state’s proposal, the state government intends to go on its own to set up a mega food park at Malipada, sources added.

The state government has already identified 80 acres of land at Malipada for this purpose. It will be handed over to the state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idcol) by the district collector of Khurda and the process will be completed within 45 days.

The Union minister for food processing will be invited by the state government to visit the identified location towards the end of November. Besides, steps will be taken to develop a chain of cold storage between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

This was decided at a review meeting on the food processing industries in Orissa chaired by the Development Commissioner (DC) R N Bohidar recently.

As per the Government of India (GoI) scheme, the mega food park need to be built on a minimum area of 100 acres and maximum area of 100 hectares and the grant can be availed in two installments.

Khurda will be a preferred location as it will be closer to the bio-technology park being set up at Andharua near Bhubaneswar which will add synergy to the project.

Sources said, the plans for the development of terminal market or distribution centres at key locations like Choudwar, Berhampur and Sambalpur along with the supply chain of horticulture products in the catchment areas are being worked out by the department of horticulture.

That apart, multi-product cold chain network and the Inland Container Depos (ICDs) at Kalinganagar and Jharsuguda by CONCOR and similar facilities proposed at other places like Rourkela, Bhadrakh and Angul are likely to give a fillip to the sector.

In view of the potential in the food and the agro-processing sector, some sub-sectors have been identified by the state government for development. This includes rice, cashew, spices, mango, marine and fishery, diary and maize.

… According to the official figures, there were 92,417 micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the state by the end of 2006-07 with an investment of about Rs 2825.16 crore. Out of it, 21,298 units were in the food and allied sector with an investment of Rs 803.78 crore. While the MSE sector accounted for about 5,56,908 employment, out of it the food processing sector engaged 1,10,329 persons.

 

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta group has made substantial headway in land acquisition for its three projects in Orissa which entail a combined investment of over Rs 30,000 crore.

The group needed 11,700 acres for its university at Puri, an alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, and its smelter and power project at Bharkhamunda near Jharsuguda. It has already acquired about 7,515 acres.

The total land needed for the Rs 15,000-crore university is 6,000 acres. The company has to date acquired 3,155 acres and taken possession of 2256.49 acres, which includes 385.15 acres of government land and 1871.34 acres of private land.

… Vedanta Aluminium has acquired the 2,000 acres it needed in Lanjigarh in the economically-backward Kalahandi district for its one-million-tonne-per-annum (MTPA), Rs 4,000-crore alumina refinery. Besides, it has got 80 per cent of the 200 acres needed for a rail corridor for the project.

“About 80 per cent of the 200 acres needed for the railway link has been acquired. We hope to complete the process very soon”, said Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer, Vedanta Aluminium.

In a relief to the company, the Supreme Court recently cleared the diversion of 660.749 hectares of forest land for mining bauxite in Niyamgiri hills in the Kalahandi district.

While the mining plan has been approved by the Indian Bureau of Mines, the company hopes to start operating the mine in the next four-six months. However, it will have to get clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Following is an excerpt from a news report in the Telegraph.

Painter Jatin Das’s dream of a museum for traditional and contemporary art in his native Orissa has gone international.

Das was in Washington and New York last week outlining his plans for the J.D. Centre of Art in Bhubaneswar to his American and Indian American fans.

At an interactive evening at the Indian embassy here, hosted by India’s deputy chief of mission Raminder Singh Jassal, with slides of his life’s work, Das said the proposed centre would be the first in India to display both traditional and contemporary art in 14 permanent galleries under one roof.

The Orissa government has allotted an acre of land to the painter, who was born in Mayurbhanj. B.V. Doshi, the famous architect from Ahmedabad and associate of Le Corbusier, has designed the master plan for the ambitious centre.

The painter said he had been dreaming of the project for almost a decade and expected that it would cost Rs 50 crore to make it a reality.

“I have been funding the centre, which has a board and a small staff of six people, with money from my paintings. They are temporarily working out of a house in Bhubaneswar given by the state government,” Das told this correspondent.

But he plans to make international requests for funding and hopes Indian Americans will join in the effort.

When the centre is ready, Das will donate his entire collection of 45 years, including paintings, books and antiquities, to the new venture to be housed in one place.

Following is  from a report in New Indian Express.

The State Government will lease out unused land of Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) at Cuttack, Baripada and here to the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for commercial purpose.

The OSRTC has prime land at Master Canteen, Pala Mandap in Cuttack and Baripada town. The corporation will lease out the Master Canteen land to RIL for 33 years for Rs 20 crore. Reliance has proposed to open retail outlets and has agreed to pay a monthly rental of Rs 15 lakh.

The company has reportedly deposited Rs 6 crore with the Government for the OSRTC land at Baripada town. However, OSRTC will collect monthly rent from RIL for all the leased out plots. Rent will be revised every five years.

The proceeds from leased out land will be invested for procurement of more buses and modernisation of the Government bus stands.

In the first phase, five bus stands at Angul, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur will be modernised under the public-private partnership.

While the bus stands of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Sambalpur will be renovated, two new bus stands will be developed at Angul and Dhenkanal.

The public utility has 230 on road buses and plans are afoot to add another 50 to its fleet. The corporation has submitted a proposal to the Government for pay revision of the employees, official sources said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Tathya.in.

New York based NGTech, a versatile group of IT professionals who offer wide array of consulting services, promoted by Dr.Namita Deo, Dr.Ramachandra Deo and Ms.Mymoona Shereen will invest in IT and Biotechnology sector.

NGTI Private Limited will install facilities like IT Development and Outsourcing Project Services, chemical & Biotech Research & Development, Medicianal Green House, Bioinformatics, IT& Biotech Training and Medical Research Centre, said sources.

According to the application presented to the Government of Orissa, the group will fund major part of the project from own sources.

While promoter’s contribution will be Rs.948 crore, loan from financial institutions will be Rs.240 crore and the company expects Rs.12 crore as subsidy from the Government.

NGTI has identified a patch of 100 acres of land at Deras, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

The group proposes to acquire land through IDCO for setting up the facilities.

There is huge potential for employment as these facilities will be requiring 25,000 man power.

Annually Rs.103 crore of revenue will be generated on account of VAT, other taxes and duties assuming cent per cent capacity utilization, said the sources.

Following is from Samaja.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

Laying the foundation stone for the Integrated Sewerage System for Bhubaneswar city at a grand function on Tuesday, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that all measures were taken by the state government to improve infrastructure of the city in an effort to provide basic amenities to people.

Speaking on the occasion, housing and urban development minister KV Singhdeo said that the detailed project report (DPR) of the project was presented to the ministry of urban development, Government of India, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and 12th Finance Commission of Government of India for funding.

Finally, after due approval by the H&UD Department, the project got the financial assistance from different sources, he said, adding, the sewerage system would be developed with the technical assistance from IIT, Roorkee at an estimated cost of Rs 754.23 crore.

… The sewerage system of Bhubaneswar envisages laying of 412 km underground gravity sewer for collection of sewage of each household and establishment throughout the city in uncovered area, replacement and renovation of all existing old sewers, construction of main, intermediate and lift pumping stations, construction of sewage treatment plants and construction of low cost sanitation units in the city area.

The new sewerage system has been planned by diving the city are into six sewerage districts that shall be provided with an independent sewerage network, pumping system, sewage treatment and disposal system.

The sewerage system has been designed for a projected city population of 22 lakh upto 2041.

The project area of 145 sq km includes all wards of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (except wards beyond river Kuakhai) and fringe areas covered under city master plan.

The project will ensure proper treatment of generated sewage in the city area with provision of modern treatment technology like Standard Activates Sludge Process.

The project will provide good and effective sewerage services to the urban population and will reduce non-point sources of pollution. Overall sanitation condition of the city will be improved.

The project has been planned to be implemented by 2011.

The sewer laying work of three districts via sewerage district- I, II and III has been awarded to the East Coast Construction and Industries Ltd, Engineers and Contractors, Chennai through a transparent system.

As per a report in Telegraph these routes are:

• Jaleswar – Kirtania on Subarnarekha
• Balasore – Chandipur on Budhabalanga (12 km)
• Rajnagar – Aul , Aul – Aetepur and Singhapur – Aul on Kharsuan (63 km)
• Rushikulya – Badanadi on Rushikulya
• Netapur – Pathna on Kushabhadra
• Kundhei – Siroi on Prachi
• Balabhadrapur – Nuagarh on Daya (9 km)

Following is an excerpt from that report in Telegraph.

The state government has initiated steps to conduct surveys to identify river stretches having the potential for detailed hydro-graphic surveys and detailed project reports.

Rail India Techno Economic Services (RITES) has been engaged by the state government for conducting the studies, …

As many as 13 rivers … were identified by the government for the studies.

Of them, a 12km stretch of Budhabalang, three stretches comprising a total of 63km in the Kharsuan and 9km of the Daya have been identified for further detailed hydro-graphic surveys and traffic studies to be conducted by RITES.

Also locations, for the provision of infrastructure, would also be identified in these stretches, officials said.

According to preliminary studies, the identified rivers have enough potential and economic viability to serve as an effective waterway.

RITES has, therefore, suggested the development of an inland water transport corridor comprising three stretches of the Kharsuan river from Rajnagar to Aul-Singhpur-Aetpur and extend it up to Jajpur along the Brahmani.

The body has proposed to develop another corridor on the Daya up to Balugaon on the banks of the Chilika lake.

At present, the state directorate of ports and inland water transports run passenger launch services in Chandbali, Chilika and Astarang.

Initiatives are being taken by the directorate to start motor launch service in reservoirs of major and medium dam projects.

A river project report for construction of jetties and waiting halls in navigational routes at a cost of Rs 5.34 crore, prepared by ocean engineering centre of the IIT, Chennai, has been submitted to Nabard for assistance under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund.

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Financial Express.

The Centre has selected Bhubaneswar as one of the 40 ITIRs planned in the country. It will provide financial assistance for development of infrastructures required for the ITIRs.

The state IT secretary, PK Mahapatra, said the Centre has aksed the state government to prepare the DPR so that fund could be provided for developing the infrastructures of the ITIR.

The detailed project report (DPR) for the Bhubaneswar ITIR will be prepared by IL&FS Infrastructures Ltd in collaboration with the state-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corp (IDCO).

The Centre plans to set up the ITIRs in line of the Petroleum, Chemicals & Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIRs) in the country to attract investment into the IT sector.

Mahapatra said the government has decided to put in place a new Information & Communication Tehcnologies Policy (ICT) in the state. The last ICT Policy was announced in 2004. The new policy will be formulated after studying the ICT polices of IT-advanced states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said.

The chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, on Thursday reviewed the development taking place in the IT sector in the state at a high level meeting. The Infocity-II will come up at Jalna in the outskirt of Bhubaneswar over an area of 500 acres. A sum of Rs 150 crore will be spent for developing the new IT facility.

The government, meanwhile, has asked the IIT Kharagpur, which is preparing the master plan for the greater Bhubaneswar city, to ease the traffic for the Infocity-I. At the meeting it was told that the Software Technology Park (STPI) at Berhampur is going to be functional from the first week of September, 2008. Orissa has two STPIs at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Another STIP is coming up at Balasore.

Following is some additional information on this from a report in Telegraph.

In April 2008, the cabinet committee on economic affairs had cleared a policy to set up ITIRs over a minimum area of 40sqkm each. The Centre last month confirmed the identification of Bhubaneswar as one of the sites for the proposed ITIRs, he said.

The ITIRs have been conceptualised as magnets for investment creating employment opportunities and growth in the area. They are expected to reduce the pressure on existing urban centres by enabling growth of new townships and dispersal of industry. The regions would be a combination of IT, ITES and electronics hardware manufacturing units, public utilities, residential area, social infrastructure and administrative services.

Every state government is supposed to ensure provision of physical infrastructure such as power, water, road, transportation, sewerage and effluent treatment facilities, the Centre is supposed to facilitate development of national highways, airport and railway links for ITIRs.