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Following is  from a report in Telegraph.

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), which is setting up a six million-tonne steel plant here, has proposed to the state government to set up an industrial park at Parang.

… “The park, with an investment of Rs 5,500 crore, will provide employment to about 30,000 people, directly and indirectly, and would go a long way for economic empowerment of the state,” he said, adding that the park was also likely to generate about Rs 636 crore revenue for the state.

“For our steel plant, we require a lot of finished materials such as by-products, semi-products, fabrication units, etc. These could be available from the facilities at the proposed industrial park,” he added.

According to project report, JSPL would spend Rs 500 crore while the remaining Rs 5,000 crore would be raised from the parties who would set up the park. JSPL would provide all sorts of infrastructural facilities including water and power to the units at the park. The site selection has been completed and a pre-feasibility report has been prepared and submitted to the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation Limited (PICOL) by the company in May. The company requires 1,381 acres of land at Parang for the park. Water will be sourced from the Mahanadi river situated at a distance of 65km from the site.

The project report also said that there would be 250 units of 42 different varieties at the park. Inside the industrial park would be a knowledge park where two colleges — National Training Institute and Industrial Training Institute — would be set up.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Economic Times.

The Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC) …

The council decided to set up three more design centres at Varanasi and Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh and Bhubaneswar in Orissa. These centres would help handloom weavers improve product quality and design and thereby, fetch a better price.

The HEPC web site is http://www.hepcindia.com/. From that site I could not find information on existing design centers. However I came across the site of National Center for Textile design in Delhi. My guess is that similar centers will be established in the three locations mentioned above. The About Us page of the this center says the following:

The National Centre for Textile Design (NCTD) has been setup in January 2001, by the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India,  with the objective of making innovative, ethnic and contemporary design available to the textile sector.

The main aim of the centre is to link people working in the centre with each other and to give the weavers & workers better exposure to the markets. This will enable them to have better livelihood and more sustainable development.

The centre has both online and offline activities.

The online sector will exhibit these designs nationally and globally to facilitate the textile sector in getting designs in time as per seasonal forecast requirements and to enable regions as well as to develop on each others’ concepts.

We would like people, like power loom workers etc. also to benefit from the centre. This is done in several ways as for instance exhibiting their designs on NCTD website. This will give them exposure to exporters, international buyers, design houses and will help to obtain a better price for their designs through design trends and forecasts on the website and they can respond to the demands of the market in a better way.

NCTD plan to link up Weavers’ Sevice Centres, Powe4rloom Service Centres and all other textile related sites to our main website through internet connectivity so that these centre can take quick and necessary advantages of the centre for the benefit of their members.

Trends and Forecasts
Both domestic and international forecasts are collated and provided in one place to cater to many middle level and smaller apparel and furnishings manufacturers, exporters and domestic textile traders and producers so that they can respond adequately and in a timely fashion to market requirements.

Virtual Museum of Heritage Textiles
This is a cyber museum of textiles collated down the ages. The material is sourced from other resources and kept as a library for future references. 

Design Pool
This is one of the most important components of the NCTD. This is basically a cyber collection of new individual designs, collected from different sources and posted at one location.

Handicraft Fabrics from India
This section is essentially a directory of handcrafted textiles from India which contains a visual factual information and technical specifications of the items produced.

The proposed design center will nicely compliment the following textile and handloom related institutes in Odisha.

• IIHT (Indian Institute of Handloom Technology), Baragarh
• NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), Bhubaneswar
• ATDC (Apparel Training and Design Centers) centers in Odisha:
  • An Eastern zone hub at Bhubaneswar
  • An Eastern zone center at Rourkela
  • Eastern zone satellite centers at Berhampur, Baripada and Cuttack

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government has urged the Centre to develop Digha-Talsari tourism circuit to attract more tourists to these locations. It is proposed to be developed in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

Since the state government has already identified 700 acres of land for the project, the state has urged the Union ministry of tourism to initiate measure for the development of this circuit.

It figured in the discussion of the chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the visiting Union minister of state for tourism, Sultan Ahmad in the state secretariat today.

Ahmad is reported to have agreed to provide Central support for the international convention centre being planned in Bhubaneswar.

“The chief minister has proposed the setting up an international convention centre to attract tourists to Orissa. We will consider the proposal”, Ahmad told the media after meeting Patnaik.

… On the extension of the ‘Maharaja Express Classical India’ train to Bhubaneswar, the minister said, the ministry would consider and hold discussion on it after the state government sends its proposal.

…  Since the existing packaging of the train is for 12 days and 11 nights, it can come from Delhi via Bodhgaya-Kolkata to Bhubaneswar by extending the package to 12 days and 12 nights.

Similarly, the state government has sought the conversion of the status of Food Craft Institute at Bolangir into an Indian Institute of Health Hotel Management (IIHM). The state government would provide additional land for it. Besides, the government has also urged the Centre to set up a IIHM at Rourkela, Mishra added.

Following is an excerpt from a news item in tathya.in.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) has paved the way for the first shipyard project in Orissa. 

… Presenting the case Ashok Dalwai, Secretary Industries the project will provide jobs for 41,000 people. 

The Bharati Shipyard Limited (BSL), a major private shipyard and the Apeejay Surendra Group, an industrial conglomerate have joined hands to set up the-State-of-the-art shipbuilding yard and ship repair yard project at Dhamra in Orissa. 

The mega shipyard project will entail an investment of Rs.2200 crore in 3 phases. 

Easy availability of raw material like steel, large number of skilled, unskilled man power and above all the proactive government policies dotted with positive environment for investors are creating conducive atmosphere for a mega shipyard in the state.

The requirement of steel in shipbuilding and repairing has been projected as in the first phase it will be up to 75,000 MT per annum, while in second phase it will go up to 2,30,000 MT.

In the final phase the steel requirement will go up to 4, 50,000 MT said the source.

The proposed site has been identified near the Dhamra Port, where out of 1500 acres surveyed 1050 acre of land has been provisionally selected for the mega shipyard.

Milestones set up for the project envisages that Master Plan will be ready in the next year and construction of the shipyard will begin in mid of 2008. 

The Joint venture promoters feel that the project will complete its first phase construction in early 2009 to begin commercial production by middle of the year.

Odisha.in adds the following:

The company has also plans to set up an ITI neared to the project site to provide technical training to local youth to enable them to get related jobs in the project.

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.

• Some good news on national institutes front
• Letter to SAC-PM on science magnet schools
• XIMB’s forway into satellite based management programs
• Orissa among the bottom in terms of its universities’ performance in civil service exams
• Update on IIIT Bhubaneswar
• Samaja on vocational courses
• Some excerpts from the PM’s address with comments and questions from me
• PM’s address at the 150th anniversary of University of Mumbai: 30 new Central universities to be established
• 2004 data on Orissa JEE and Orissa engineering colleges: can’t understand it completely
• Sambada has opened a school of mass communication and culture through its charitable trust
• RMRC Bhubaneswar will have facility for diagnosis of viral infections
• Sambada: BJD MP Braja Tripathy writes to PM on KBK Central University
• Which University to recommend for central university status?
• Orissa JEE has released additional rankings
• Rejoinder to Mr. Jairam Ramesh’s comments in Bhubaneswar on the IIT Orissa issue
• Which option is better IISER, NIT or IIST and why?
• IIT JEE 2007 Counseling brochure
• Plus two science colleges in Bhubaneswar-Cuttack area
• New Indian Express: Our government will fight for central varsity – Naveen
• Dharitri Editorial: Kendrara ghaitapania (Spousal abuse by center)
• Statesman: Naveen’s missive on varsity in KBK region
• New Indian Express: Orissa feels rejected once again
• Pioneer: Naveen shoots off letter to PM over central varisty in KBK
• Ganjam district has the maximum number of out-of-school students in Orissa
• Higher education vision document in the offing
• Orissatv.com: Center’s decision to shift proposed tribal university to Madhya Pradesh objected – CM says it is another example of center’s negligence
• Statesman: CM demands varisty in KBK region
• Sambada: After IIT Central University in KBK is also out of hand
• Fax campaign against repeated injustice by MHRD
• Dharitri: Hopes dashed on KBK Central University
• Pioneer: Arjun hijacks plans for KBK varisty
• Ex and founding VC of BPUT Prof. Damodar Acharya will be IIT Kharagpur director from July 2007
• Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Madhya Pradesh – Orissa had proposed a similar university in KBK
• Orissa JEE result is out: some links

Samaja reports on a technical competence workshop being organized in Orissa for the first time where graduates of various technical schools at all levels (engineering, diplomas, ITIs etc.) will interact with the various industrial units coming up in Orissa.

Various newspapers (Telegraph, Financial Express) report that the Cabana group has announced a hotel and a management institute in Bhubaneswar and plans to open many hotels in various locations in Orissa. Following is an excerpt from Telegraph.

Co-chairman of Cabana Hotel Management Private Limited and venture capitalist, Prabhu Goel, said the institute will be the group’s first training venture anywhere in the world. “Since the industry demand is huge, we hope that all students will be absorbed after training,” Goel added.

The institute, for which the government has allotted a seven-acre plot near Dumduma, will have hostels for 1,500 students, classrooms, labs, kitchens, along with a an attached 200-bed hotel. The group will represent Best Western brand in India, provide hotel management services and consultancy, he said.

Over the next 10 years, the group intends to add more than 100 hotels and 10,000 rooms to the growing Indian hospitality market. “We have visited places like Chilika, Puri, Konark and Paradip. We are interested to set up hotels there. We have plans to invest around Rs 350 crores in developing properties in the state,” said Goel.