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Following is an excerpt from a report in Business standard.

Global steel major ArcelorMittal, who is proposing to set up a 12 million tonne greenfield steel plant at Patna tehsil in Keonjhar district of Orissa, plans to spend about $300 million (about Rs 1,200 crore) on rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R). …

ArcelorMittal has presented its R&R plan to the Keonjhar district administration. It plans to spend the earmarked amount over a period of more than five years.

"We plan to spend about $300 million for the R&R plan over a period of more than five years. The R&R plan has already been submitted to the Orissa government," ArcelorMittal India chief executive officer (CEO) Sanak Misra said.

After meeting Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik along with Sudhir Maheshwari and Vijay Bhattanagar, the members of ArcelorMittal’s group management board, in the state secretariat today, Misra told the media that their steel plant will come up in two phases of 6 million tonne each. He said the R&R plan of the company was in conformity with the R&R policy of the Orissa government.

The plan envisages dwelling units for each of the displaced family with common facilities. The rehabilitation colonies will have water supply, educational institutions and primary health centres (PHCs).

As per the R&R plan, the company will set up a state-of-the-art industrial training institute (ITI) beside the steel plant. It is in discussion with three leading institutes of the country having previous experience in handling ITIs.

The model, including student strength and the cost of setting up of the ITI, is being worked out. Misra, however, made it clear that the ITI would come up before the commissioning of the plant. The company was in discussion with the state government for the required land, he said.

Official sources said, the company planned to apply the highest standards of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the Orissa project and intended to make the R&R policy the backbone of the CSR strategy.

Misra said a detail project report (DPR), prepared by M N Dastur & Company (P) Ltd (Dasturco), was being finalised. It would be submitted in June, 2008, he added.

The DPR includes captive mining facilities, captive power supply, water supply infrastructure and other required facilities. It also includes setting up of townships for the company’s employees.

The ArcelorMittal CEO also expressed his satisfaction over the land acquisition, saying that it was making good progress.

The company had signed an MoU with the Orissa government in December 2006 for setting up a steel plant at an investment of about Rs 40,000 crore.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Kalinga Times.

National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the flagship PSU of the Ministry of Mines and India ‘s largest manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, has been granted the Navratna status.

Navratna status is conferred on select Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE),on becoming significant players in the economic development of the country.

On achieving the status, certain powers are delegated to those CPSEs that had comparative advantages and capacity to become global giants.

As per the wikipedia entry on Navratna:

The ‘Navaratna’ status offers a company enhanced financial and operational autonomy and empowers it to invest up to Rs. 1000 cr or 15% of their net worth on a single project without seeking government approval. In a year, these companies can spend up to 30% of their net worth not exceeding Rs. 1000 cr. They will also have the freedom to enter joint ventures, form alliances and float subsidiaries abroad.

 

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The District administration on Sunday formally issued a notification for the proposed Rs 45,000-crore ship building plant at Chardia on the banks of the Baitarani river mouth. Surendra Kumar Group of Companies (Ocean Sea port Company, Kolkota) is the promoter of the plant.

Sources said the company has deposited Rs 1 crore with the district administration for land acquisition to be done by IDCO. More than 939.36 acre of land is to be acquired. The Government has issued a notification under Section 4(1). Fiver villages of Chardia, Harispur, Rajendrapali, Kanakpali and Rajrajeshwarpali are going to be affected by the land acquisition said district land acquisition officer Suryakanta Padhi.

Following is from Dharitri.

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 report in odishatoday.com.

"I have already talked with BCCI president Sharad Pawar requesting him to release funds for the infrastructure development of the Railway Cricket Stadium here in Orissa ," Railway Board Chairman and BCCI member Kalyan Coomar Jena said after inaugurating the Stadium here on Monday.

With inauguration of the Stadium, OCA and other cricket bodies could now host Ranji Trophy and other domestic cricket matches in the stadium. And after the expansion work got over, the Stadium could be a venue for the One-Day Internationals.

Railway sources said that the gallery would be made on lines of gallery that are being available in New Zealand.

"We have planned to make the Stadium as world class and facilities would be available on standards of other International venues," Jena, who is one among the policy maker of BCCI, said.

"I also discussed the matter with BCCI Treasure N Srinivasan and I hope, the country’s apex cricket body would release funds under its infrastructure development sachems, he added.

The Stadium is spread over 25 acres of land near here at Railway Workshop having a cricket ground with a boundary of 81 meters radius.

The Railway officials claimed that it would the biggest ever cricket ground in the world. The out field of the ground is planted with baramunda grass. In the first phase, Railway had released Rs 1.5 crore and in the second phase, the Ministry has sanctioned Rs 3 crore for the expansion of the Railway Stadium.

Meanwhile, OCA has announced to release a sum of Rs 1 crore in the initial phase, which will be spent on infrastructure development.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Another SEZ (Special Economic Zone) is coming up in the State in the IT sector. Currently, the State has four SEZs in this sector.

It would be set up in 25 acres of land in Bhubaneswar on a Public -Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Electronic and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ECS) and Larsen and Turbo (L&T) would provide the necessary support for establishment of the SEZ. Government will provide the land for this purpose. IT Minister Surjya Naryan Patro said … 1074 acres of land has earmarked for the development of IT services.

Till date Orissa has applied for 14 SEZs, of which 3 have been cleared, six given in principle clearance and five have received formal clearance from the Centre.

Meanwhile, the State Government has urged the Centre to sanction an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) to boost growth of IT and IT enabled services. The ITIR is being planned in the State will house space for hardware manufacturing units other than having provisions for new integrated townships, special economic zone and industrial parks.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

Till recently, most families migrated to other areas to make a living. This went on till the villagers learnt how to conserve rainwater through watershed development.

Usually, the rainwater would drain off or simply dry up. Now, the community along with the Orissa government and NGOs has started watershed programmes to conserve water in wells, man-made ponds and bunds. The state government has set up a Watershed Development Mission — the first of its kind in India — to take up livelihood and community development programmes.

At the village level, watershed committees implement the programmes. The good thing is, women too have come to the forefront as agents of change. They have formed self-help groups (SHG) to supplement their income.

Malati Sabar’s is one such family in Suklimundi village, Nuapada. They used to migrate to brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh every year. Now, Malati collects mahua flowers to supplement her income while her husband, a small farmer, grows an annual paddy crop on their two-acre plot. Malati has also become a member of an SHG that retails kerosene. Recently, she took a loan from the SHG to buy a goat. "My life has changed ever since the watershed programme was introduced here," says Malati.

In western Orissa, the watershed programme is being jointly implemented by the government and Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK government under the Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Project (WORLP). "We are following a ‘watershed plus’ approach. The aim is to give people more livelihood options besides agriculture," says Sarat Behra, project director, Watershed Commission, Nuapada.Villagers say they are earning more from the same field and it’s regular income too. Moreover, they now have the option of both farm and non-farm activities in their villages. This has curtailed the seasonal distress migration.

Tunu Sabar of Larki village was one such migrant who would go to Andhra Pradesh during the lean season. "Hardly any work was available here. We couldn’t irrigate our fields or grow crops. Most of us went to Hyderabad, Bhuban-eshwar, even Surat to work in brick kilns or as labourers," he says. Life at the brick kilns was tough. Each family got Rs 5,000 as advance from the sardar along with a weekly food allowance. In the end, the sardar took his cut and the migrant was left with almost nothing. But now life’s looking up. Tunu now grows paddy, onions, vegetables, sunflowers etc, on his two-acre patch. He has built a low-cost onion storage area and his kaccha house has been replaced by a pucca one. He has a motorbike and even a telephone.

Similarly, Jamuna Sabar, a widow from Malpada village, used to work as a coolie during the lean months while her son went to Surat as a labourer. Now, they have dug a pond that helps them grow paddy and vegetables. "We plan to diversify our crops and start pisciculture too," says Jamuna.

Common cause

Watershed development is not just about livelihood but also capacity building. Awareness levels among villagers have gone up and community mobilisation is more easy. Ambahal village in Baragarh is a good example. Here, the watershed development community got together to shut the liquor shop so that the village could get aid from NGOs. "We realised we couldn’t get money unless everyone got together. So we shut the liquor shop. Now we are working to spread education, build roads, control malaria etc," says Kamilini Patnaik, chairperson, watershed development committee. Moreover, the community makes sure the development work touches the poorest first and then trickles up. The central government is now planning to replicate this success story in other states as well.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

The ambitious plan of railways to set up about 100 budget hotels across the country, popularly known as Rail Ratna, has finally got a nod from the Railway Board. Twenty-two of these budget hotels are to be built in the first phase of work which is likely to be taken up soon.

… According to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) director Vinod Asthana, it has been decided to commercially exploit the vacant land of railways across the country. The ambitious budget hotel plan will yield good revenue to railways. IRCTC will go ahead with the plan as approved for the first phase of work, he said.

IRCTC MD Nalin Singhale said the proposed budget hotels will be built and developed on public-private partnership basis with a view to promoting tourism and providing full comfort to tourists.

IRCTC has already selected important places where these budget hotels are to be built. These places are Delhi, Varanasi, Ajmer, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Allahabad, Darjeeling, Sealdah, Lucknow, Mysore, Mumbai, Ooty, Puri, Amritsar, Shimla, Ujjain, Udaipur, Chandigarh, Kanyakumari, Pune, Nagpur and Agra, he said …

… According to sources, the budget hotel project is likely to yield about Rs 4,000 crore annually to railways on its completion. These hotels will be built on thousands of hectares of the vacant land leased out by the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA). Railways have roped in reputed companies of the country to invest in such an ambitious project. Tenders have been finalised and awarded to successful bidders at 20 locations at the country level, sources said.

As per the approved plan, each budget hotel is to be developed on the pattern of plush hotels equipped with all modern facilities. IRCTC has already formulated policies with regard to budget hotels, a Railway Board official said.

… Sources said Railway Board is yet to approve the tariff for each room of the proposed budget hotels. Railways are likely to fix Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 for each plush room of such hotels per night. IRCTC proposes to provide its own quality catering services in these budget hotels.

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

Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL), Hospitality Division plans to update its Bhubaneswar property, The Triumph Residency, to keep pace with the growing competition. Triumph Residency will go through a complete makeover in terms of interiors, rooms and public areas (lobby, bar and restaurants) as well as in terms of the power backup. The renovation process, which will last for a period of seven to eight months, is due to take off in mid-April 2008.

Speaking to Hospitality Biz, Dinesh Kumar, General Manager, OSL, Hospitality Division, said, “Over the past couple of years, the influx of business travellers to Bhubaneswar has gone up to 100 per cent due to various reasons like industrial congestion and high Average Rooms Rates (ARR) in the metros”.

Bhubaneswar has become well connected lately, which has led to an increase in the meetings and conferences held in the city. “The competition has also shot high, as the existing properties like Swosti Plaza and Mayfair are in the process of adding their room inventories. Alongside this, hospitality majors like Radisson, Sarovar Group of Hotels and Best Western Group of Hotels are coming up with their properties,” Kumar said. Ginger Hotels and Hotel Hindustan International are also coming up with hotels in the city with an inventory of 100 rooms.

Triumph Residency plans to add seven more rooms. The hotel will be operational during the renovation period. “With this revamp, we plan to target the high-end business travellers. We foresee ourselves to be at par with properties like Mayfair and Trident. Occupancy is expected to shoot up by at least 30-40 per cent, along with a doubling of ARR,” Kumar added.

Also under consideration at OSL is the possibility to create its own hospitality brand or to rope in any international hospitality major to brand all of its properties. The group is coming up with a 40-room property in Puri. … The property, which is under construction currently, is slated to be operational by the end of 2008.

OSL also plans to build a high-end flagship property at Chandaka, a place in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. “We have already bought the land. We intend to make this 150-key five star property the best in eastern India,” informs Kumar.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Travel Biz Monitor.

“We have adopted this system from places like London and Berlin. Instead of a conducted tour within and outside the city, we will introduce tailor-made sight-seeing options.” The state plans to operate five coaches at a time, covering a minimum of 12-13 destinations. There will be a minimum of 10-15 minutes between each coach’s departure, in order to provide the traveller with ultimate flexibility. One day’s ticket will be issued for travellers who want to enjoy the destinations of their preference.

Conducted city tours were an important revenue-generator for Orissa Tourism. However, they have been converted into the coach service to cater to a growing demand for tailor-made packages, around the globe. “As we have started catering to a large number of international tourists, we had to resort to made-to-order services,” adds Rath.

With an aim to garner additional global business, Orissa Tourism also plans to appoint STPOs across the world, to promote Orissa as an international tourist destination. Rath claims that Orissa Tourism already employs a large number of travel agents and tour operators to sell Orissa packages. However, it is now looking to appoint non-resident Oriyas to promote the state’s tourism.

The STPO scheme will be launched on an experimental basis to garner additional employment opportunities. “We believe that the Oriya community spread all over the world will be instrumental in adding that personal touch to our state’s tourism. Although, the STPOs will not be on a payroll basis, commission against the volume of business generated will be attractive,” says Rath.