___________

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer. 

With top software companies chalking out their strategies for growth, the top administrators in the Information Technology (IT) sector in Odisha say that by 2013 the state will have more than 10,000 seats for software professionals.

TCS, Infosys, Wipro and above all MindTree have started their plans for expansion in Odisha in a big way, said an official in the Department of IT(DoIT).

MindTree, a global IT and Product engineering services company, is starting work on its 20-acre campus from Thursday, said sources.Though MindTree wanted to open its campus way back in 2004, bureaucratic wrangles forced the IT major to wind up its plan. However, with the intervention of the top officials in the DoIT, it has once again taking up the job to set up 2,000-seater campus by 2013, which will ultimately a 10,000-seater campus in future.DoIT Secretary and IDCO CMD Pradeep Jena played a crucial role in roping in the Global IT company to Odisha by providing 20-acres of land in Infocity I.

… Wipro has also started construction of its campus in Infocity I, said an offcial.

This will be a 3,000-seater campus with the latest facilities for software development.Similarly, Infosys has decided to be co-developer of a 50-acre zone in Info Valley SEZ coming up near Khurda.

DoIT sources said 5,000 seats would be developed in next two years.TCS has also started adding its second campus with 3,500 seats in Infocity I.All these companies would be adding 10,000 seats by 2013 …

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Mid-sized IT solution provider MindTree Ltd has plans to complete its Orissa project by 2017 and the first phase by June 2013 …

… MindTree will invest Rs 250 crore in a span of five years to build the facility, which can employ 5,000 persons and can train 1,000 freshers, he informed while saying that the entire campus will have the touch of Puri temple along with modern architecture.

In its Bhubaneswar campus, the company will provide all its services including specialised Product Engineering Services that accounts for a third of its revenue. After its completion, it will also look for universities which can make changes in their curriculum to suit the business requirement, he said.

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday laid the foundation-stone of the second-phase expansion of the Global Software Development Centre of TCS here at Kalinga Park Phase II.  …. The State Government, along with the Central Government, is setting up of an IT investment region in the State where IT and electronics hardware industry is an important component, he informed.

Patnaik said that to achieve the objective, industry-friendly ICT Policy-2011, IT Roadmap, Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Policy and IT Hardware Policy are being prepared to attract more IT industries to the State. The State’s IT export has crossed Rs 13,000 million during the year 2010-11 with direct employment of more than 10,000 persons.

… TCS Vice-President Projects B Sharma said that the second phase expansion is expected to be completed by March 2012, which would add 3,500 seats to the operation here. After the planned third phase, the total number of seats would be 11,000. The capital expenditure on different phases of expansion is estimated to be Rs 500 crore.

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

The wildlife wing of the Forest department has raised concerns over the setting up of 1,000 mw thermal power plant proposed by Tata Power Company at Naraj.

Its proximity to critical sites, impact of pollution on them as well as on the wildlife are issues the wildlife wing is worried about. The ` 4,900 cr coal-based power project is proposed at Naraj Marthapur, about 12 km from Cuttack and 20 km from Bhubaneswar.

“The Centre had referred the project site matter to me. Subsequently, I inspected the proposed power plant site and submitted a report in which I have indicated certain concerns relating to environment and wildlife,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) P N Padhi said on Monday.

One of the major issues is its location. According to Padhi’s report, the power plant is proposed amidst six critical sites.

It has Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on both sides and it is located between two major rivers __ Mahanadi and Kathjodi.

Besides, it is flanked by two wildlife habitats __ Chandaka- Dampara wildlife sanctuary on the one hand and Nandankanan Zoological Park and Zoo, also a notified sanctuary, on the other.

“With two protected areas (PAs) on its sides, a thermal power plant may have adverse impact on wildlife,” Padhi said. Chandaka, for one, is an elephant sanctuary and has witnessed growing man-animal conflict over the past 10 years.

Besides, the jumbos are known to stray out of their habitats more frequently in the last few years.

Similarly, apprehension of pollution is a major concern …

The power project, which is located in Cuttack Sadar tehsil, needs about 990 acres. It is well close to a road that connects Khurda, Chandaka, Barang and Gobindpur. …

That location (close to Sri Sri University) is apt for a knowledge park. Since the Tatas have already worked hard on the land acquisition Odisha government should tell them that instead of a power plant they should create a Knowledge Park there. It could include a large operation of TCS, a TCS training center like the Infosys center in Mysore, space and infrastructure for multiple universities, medical colleges, etc.

There the total land area is about 990 acres. Currently such an amount of contiguous land is not available so close to Bhubaneswar where one can build IT parks and knowledge parks.

So the Odisha government should consider giving the Tatas some other land for their power plant and use that land for a knowledge park, possibly even built by the Tatas.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Under the proposed SEZ Policy, the state government shall not encourage SEZs based on mining and minerals like iron ore, chrome ore and bauxite. However, SEZs based on the use of intermediate products like alumina for smelting, primary metals for further processing on the value chain and rare minerals like tin, limenite, nickel, platinum and vanadium will be allowed.

Moreover, the state shall not encourage SEZs based on activities like mining that cause pollution. The Orissa State Pollution Control Board shall prepare a list of such industries and the same would be notified by the state government as a negative list.

The mineral based SEZs already approved shall undertake to develop and promote related downstream industrial complexes over a minimum area as prescribed by the Government of India. In the event of non-compliance of this condition, all state concessions shall be withdrawn.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) shall be the competent authority to screen and recommend SEZ proposals irrespective of the magnitude of investment.

All recommendations of SLSWCA would be placed before the High Level Clearance Authority for approval before making any recommendation to the Government of India.

The state government owned Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Limited (Ipicol) would function as the state level nodal agency for receipt, scrutiny and placement of the applications before the SLSWCA.

For sector specific projects, the respective nodal agencies like the Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC), Industrial Infrastructure Corporation of Orissa Limited (Idco) and Agricultural Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Limited (Apicol) will receive and scrutinize the applications.

As per the SEZ Policy of the state, the import of goods and services made to SEZ units located within the processing zone from the Domestic Tariff Area shall be exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT), entry tax, electricity duty and other cess payable on sales and transactions.

The SEZ Policy of the state has not envisaged any special provisions for backward districts like Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput and tribal dominated areas.

Till now, four SEZs have been notified in the state– the sector specific IT/ITes SEZ at Chandaka Industrial Estate in Bhubaneswar developed by Idco, sector specific SEZ for stainless steel and ancillary downstream industries at the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex being developed by JSL, aluminium and aluminium products SEZ at Lapanga near Sambalpur being developed by Hindalco Industries and another aluminium SEZ with Captive Power Plant being developed by Vedanta Aluminium Limited at Jharsuguda.

Some of the other Orissa related SEZs plans and approvals that are not mentioned in the above article are (see also http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1305):

• Recent approval of IT/ITES SEZ of Suryo Infra. in Bhubaneswar.
• Approval of Solar SEZ by Lanco Solar in Ramdaspur Cuttack.
• Proposal by Geetanjali gems and minerals.
• Work has started for theTATA SEZ in Gopalpur.
• POSCO SEZ in Paradip (Dec 2009: asked to file fresh proposal).
• Saraf Agencies SEZ for Titanium in Chhatrapur (Saraf pulls out; Odisha asks Russian company to speed-up; perhaps no longer an SEZ.)
• Wellspun garments SEZ in Choudwar: 200 acres (??)

Following is from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=65819.

The Board of Approval of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) met here today to consider proposals for setting up of Special Economic Zones and also to approve other miscellaneous requests pertaining to SEZs.

Addressing the Board of Approval members, the Chairman informed that so far 577 formal approvals have been granted for setting up of SEZs out of which 363 have been notified. …

In this meeting, the Board recommended grant of Ten Formal Approvals and one In-Principal Approval.

· Formal Approvals:

… IT/ITES – M/s. Suryo Infra Projects Private Limited, Mouza – Tulasideipur, Chandaka, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

For the last couple of years the IT industry growth in Bhubaneswar had slowed down. With the economic mood of the country back in the positive direction projects put in the backburner are now getting to the forefront. Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

… The proposed IT-SEZ will come up near the Infocity-II at Godakashipur, 15 km from the city. The project that included an integrated township would require 613 acres of land, IT minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi said.

“While the proposed IT-SEZ would be set up in an area of 320 acres of land, an integrated township would be developed in the remaining 180 acres of the total area. The rest would be kept in store to meet the future needs of the department," Majhi said.

As per the proposed plan, schools, colleges, hospitals, hotels and amusement parks would be developed. …

… the proposed SEZ would provide jobs to more than one lakh IT professionals. Another four lakh people would gain suitable employment opportunities in the project, which was scheduled to start its operation during 2011-2012 financial year.

“The Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) will set up a seven-storied incubation tower. All small and medium scale entrepreneurs, engaged in the IT business, would be provided space at the centre at an affordable price. The centre would come near Acharya Bihar,’’ he said.

Construction of the incubation centre has already started.

So far, two IT parks are operational in the city. The government has already signed MoUs with DLF and Raheja groups to set up two more parks in the city. The fifth park will be set up by the government’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDCO).

Raheja group is planning to set up the IT park with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in an area of 100 acres. The group has opted for a site near the Infocity of Bhubaneswar.

Real estate giant DLF is setting up another park with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The foundation stone has already been laid for the DLF Infopark, which would come up in phases on 25 acres of land and is expected to generate about 40,000 direct and indirect employment.

The minister claimed that the IT firms operating from the state had exported software worth Rs 1,198 crore during 2009-10 as against Rs 1,171 crore in 2008-2009.

Officials from the IT department said it was one of the few cities in the country that boasts of the presence of the big four of Indian software exports. While Infosys and Satyam have been in the city for quite some time, TCS has already recruited about 500 people after starting its operation in 2007.

Wipro, too, has started building its campus.

Nearly 12,000 people are directly engaged in the various IT industries.

… Moreover, along with the SEZ and IT parks, the state government is also planning to set up an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) in the capital city. It would come up near Jatni, about 25 km from here. If things go right, it can attract an investment of Rs 15,000 crore, official sources said.

This is all good. The government should start steering away some of the IT firms to Berhampur, Rourkela, Balasore, and Sambalpur.

Thanks to Sunil Sabat for the photograph.

Following is an excerpt from a report in expresscomputerline.

S.P. Singh, Sr. Director, DIT, Government of India, underscored the importance of support infrastructure in e-governance implementations. The government of India has taken the initiative of providing this infrastructure and its three pillars are State WAN (SWAN), State Data Centers (SDC) and Citizen Service Centers (CSC).

…The mandate of the SDC scheme is that data centers are to be set up in all 35 states and union territories. It involves an outlay of 1,623 crores over five years and this takes care of the CAPEX for setting up data centers as well as the OPEX for five years.

The idea (SDC) is to concentrate and migrate IT infrastructure in state governments to a centralized environment that provides 24×7 services.

With regard to BC and DR, Singh said the four data centers of the NIC will provide disaster recovery to individual states. A 64,000 sq. ft. data center will come up in Delhi to begin with. Pune, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar will follow suit eventually.

BC refers to Business Continuity and DR refers to Disaster Recovery.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

“Zensar has communicated that it is keen to start construction work on its development centre soon. The Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has already given its in-principle approval to allot three acres of land to the software firm in the Infocity region of the city”, a top IT official told Business Standard.

Zensar Technologies plans to invest Rs 30-40 crore on its proposed software development centre. Initially, the centre would be run by a pool of 1,500 professionals but Zensar plans to make its Bhubaneswar centre the second biggest in the country after Pune where its centre is spread over 10 acres.

… Zensar has more than 4,000 employees in India and abroad. The company is rated among the top 25 software firms of the country by National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

Meanwhile, other major IT investors have also renewed their commitment on their proposed projects in the city.

MindTree expects to kick off construction work on its Rs 200-crore development centre in the city by June this year. … its centre which would come up over 30 acres of land.

…  MindTree would initially recruit about 1,000 software professionals and eventually ramp up its headcount to 6000. Its development centre in Bhubaneswar will focus on R&D, consultancy and software development.

ICICI Bank, which had sought an extension of two years for its Rs 600-crore eastern regional hub, has been asked by the state IT department to start construction work by April.

ICICI bank’s eastern regional hub would have a built-up area of 1.5 million sq ft and it will have a pool of 15,000 employees in the long-run. The project is to be developed in phases over a period of six to seven years. Similarly, Genpact, which had announced a Global Delivery Centre in the city, has submitted a fresh building plan to the Bhubanewar Development Authority (BDA).

Genpact’s centre in the city will have a total built-up area of 7 lakh sq ft. Initially, Genpact would hire 500 people for running its operations and eventually, the headcount will be scaled up to 3,000.

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

While MindTree expects to kick off construction work on its Rs 200-crore development centre in the city by June this year, ICICI Bank, which had sought an extension of two years for its Rs 600-crore eastern regional hub, has been asked by the state IT department to start construction work by April.

… MindTree, a global IT and R&D services company, co-headquartered in Bangalore and Somerset in New Jersey (US), had entered into an MoU with the Orissa government in March 2006 for setting up its software development centre spread over 30 acres.

…  MindTree would initially recruit about 1,000 software professionals and eventually ramp up its headcount to 6000. Its development centre in Bhubaneswar will focus on R&D, consultancy and software development.

ICICI bank’s eastern regional hub would have a built-up area of 1.5 million sq ft and it will have a pool of 15,000 employees in the long-run. The project is to be developed in phases over a period of six to seven years.

Genpact Limited, the BPO (business process outsourcing) arm of the US-based General Electric which had announced a Global Delivery Centre in the city has submitted a fresh building plan to the Bhubanewar Development Authority (BDA).

“We are pursuing Genpact’s case with the BDA to expedite the company’s project”, the official said.

Genpact’s centre in the city will have a total built-up area of 7 lakh sq ft. Initially, Genpact would hire 500 people for running its operations and eventually, the headcount will be scaled up to 3,000.

On Raheja Corporation’s IT park, he said, land has been alloted but the company is yet to take physical possession of it. Mumbai-based K Raheja Corporation proposed to set up an IT park in the city over an area of 30 acres at an investment of about Rs 250 crore. This IT park would have a total built-up area of 10 lakh sq ft and it was scheduled to be commissioned within three years. The project would generate employment for nearly 20,000 people.

K Raheja Corporation had signed a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Orissa government in May 2008 and the IT park was scheduled to be commissioned within three years.

Following is an excerpt from a Business Standard report in sify.com.

"We had a recent review meeting on the status of DLF’s Infopark project with the company’s executive director. The real estate player is committed to kick off work on its Infopark project by April 1 this year", said Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary.

DLF has sought some changes in the contour of the project to be developed over 54 acres near Infocity region of the city. It is keen on setting aside a greater area for non-processing facilities like shopping malls and multiplexes.

… DLF is understood to have resumed negotiations with a host of IT players- both large as well as the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for offering its IT workspace to them.

… The DLF Infopark project will be developed in three phases and it comprises an IT block, a luxury hotel, a retail chain, service apartments and recreational facilities with a total built-up space of about 5.5 million sq ft.

For setting up the luxury hotel, DLF had tied up with Hilton, an international hotel chain.

In the first phase, DLF had committed an investment of Rs 300 crore for developing an IT workspace of international standards with a built-up area of 5.7 lakh sq ft.

The first phase was scheduled to be operational within eighteen months to two years after commencement of construction work.

The Infopark project was to generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for over 40,000 people in sectors like IT and ITes (IT enabled services), retail and hospitality.

Following is an excerpt from an IANS report.

Orissa got its first private software technology park Tuesday. Built on the outskirts of state capital Bhubaneswar by city-based JSS Group, the venture was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The JSS Software Technology Park has a built-up area of about 55,000 square feet and can accommodate about 1,000 IT (Information Technology) professionals, Bijoy K. Sahoo, Chairman of the JSS group told IANS.

The eight-floor building constructed with an investment of Rs.10 crore in the first phase has ready-to-move-in facilities, Sahoo said, adding that two companies have already allotted space and they have begun their operations from today (Tuesday).

JSS has planned to invest Rs.70 crore (Rs.700 million) in the second phase that is scheduled to complete in the next 24 months. The total built up area of the project after second phase expansion would be two lakh square feet, he said.

Following is from JSS’s web page.

Keeping to long standing demands from the Information Techenology (IT)
Companies in the Small and Medium Enterprise (ITSME) Sector, the InterMinisterial standing Committee (IMSC) of Goverment of India has approved the First Private Software Technology Park (STP) of Orissa.The IMSC felt it imprerative to setup a micro,small and madium enterprise(MSME) software park to broaden the export base of the state. The park will enble IT professionals to walk in and to state their business instantly.
The news STP has been christened as JSS software Technology park.The private STP is locted at Infocity in Chandaka ,Bhubaneswar with a view to provide incubation and infrastructure faclities to new ans young entrepreneurs in the MSME sector .Infocity is considered as the biggestITpark in estern India spread over an area of 350 acres, currently housing IT giants like Infosy, Wipro, TCS, Mind Tree ect.

The intelligent building of the JSS STP is spread in sprawing three acre campus and housses state-of-art technology to fulfil the growing demands of highly competent IT professionals.

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

The Nandankanan Zoological Park here will have the largest Orchid House of Orissa soon.

Spread over 5,000 sq ft, the garden will be home to some exotic species which are found in Orissa as well as outside.

… The Nanadankanan Zoo authorities have collected over 156 varieties of orchids belonging to 35 species for the Orchid House which is now awaiting to be thrown open. Altogether, the specially-designed garden will be home to 1,000 plants, Director of Nandankanan Zoological Park Sudarshan Panda said. All the three different types of orchidaceae – epiphytic, subaerial and those growing on the soil are part of the collection.

Following are some excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

… The Infocity-II region is being developed by the Orissa government on over 600 acres of land at Janla between Bhubaneswar and Khurda. Infosys is set to be the anchor tenant of the region. Infosys has committed an investment of Rs 300 crore in the first phase of the project which is scheduled to be operational within 14 months of commencement of construction work.

Infosys has a headcount of around 3,500 at its existing city centre spread over 45 acres and would add 3,000 more people in the first phase of its expansion project. The second campus would have a pool of 5,000 employees in all.

“Infosys has sought 100 acres of land for their second campus in the city. In the first phase, we will allot 50 acres of land to the IT firm in the Infociy-II area”, Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary told Business Standard. He hinted that the total investment of Infosys for its second campus may exceed Rs 500 crore. …

The state government has assured to provide water and uninterrupted power supply to Infosys for its second campus in the city. In 2008-09, Orissa recorded software exports worth Rs 1168 crore and Infosys had the lion’s share, accounting for more than 70 per cent of exports.

As per the estimates of the state IT department, the Infocity-II project would be fully operational by the end of 2012. The state government has already sanctioned Rs 150 crore for developing external infrastructure for the project like approach road, electricity and water.

The Infocity-II project would attract many IT firms and it would have a total manpower pool of 1,20,000, Mohaptra said.

The project is set to attract investments worth Rs 4,000 crore from IT ad ITes (IT enabled services) companies.

It would generate direct and indirect employment for about four lakh people in the information technology (IT) and ITes sectors. Presently, more than 18,000 professionals were engaged in the IT sector in the state while the ITes sector had a workforce of over 15,000.

The operationalization of Infocity II would also be a big boon for BIT (Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology) which is adjacent to that.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.

Infosys will start its second project in the city soon. An investment of Rs 300 cr will be made in this project. Its Director (Human Resources) Mohandas Pai informed this to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here today.

About 5,000 IT professionals will work in the first phase of project-II while some 3,000 are already working in its Infocity campus here. Export of software from the Bhubaneswar campus has reached Rs 850 crore per year, Pai said.’

Land will be provided to the second project in the proposed Info-valley near the Bhubaneswar- Khurda national highway. The Government has assured infrastructural support for the project.

The above is from Samaja. Following is an excerpt from a report in Economics Times by Nageshwar Patnaik.

A knowledge park is coming up here at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore. This is the first public private partnership integrated industrial park by Government of Orissa and Bharat Biotech International [BBI].

Work at the 100 crore ‘Konark Knowledge Park’ at Mouza-Andharua near the state capital here began today with the ground breaking ceremony held here on Sunday. …

The project aims to boost investments in the areas of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in the state of Orissa. When completed, this infrastructure will create world-class, state-of-the-art research and development enterprises in an exceptional environment designed to foster novel approaches to healthcare and its delivery.

The state government has allocated 64.86 acres of land (30 acres in Phase I and 24.86 acres in phase II) including 10 acres of land for development of Biotech Incubation Centre through a Special Purpose Vehicle [SPV] for development of an integrated industrial park to attract and promote biotechnology, pharmaceutical and information technology industries here. The land for park has been allocated in the form of a long term lease to the SPV named Konark Knowledge Park Pvt. Ltd.

The SPV will execute the Lease cum Development Agreement with Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). The project is expected to be completed over a period of 8 years.

… Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) will provide all external infrastructure facilities, such as four-way lane roads to the gate, uninterrupted water supply, uninterrupted power with 33KVA sub-station, sewage etc to facilitate rapid development of internal infrastructure.

BBI has successfully developed an integrated Agri-Biotech Park in Bangalore and establishment of Genome Valley BioPharmaceutical cluster located in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa IT department has got its act together to expedite the Infocity-II project to be developed over 500 acres of land at Janla on the outskirts of the city. …

the state government is gearing up to keep the infrastructure of Infocity-II ready to welcome any IT firm keen to set up its shop in the city.

Towards this objective, the state IT department has now planned to go for a four-lane approach road connecting the Infocity-II project with the National Highway.

“We are committed to provide external infrastructure like roads, water and electricity for the Infocity-II project. The state IT department has engaged a consultant which is undertaking a survey work on the proposed four-lane approach road and the private land that needs to be acquired for the purpose”, …

Earlier, the state government had sanctioned Rs 150 crore for developing external infrastructure for the project like approach road, electricity and water.

While land acquisition for the Infocity-II project is already over, the construction of the boundary wall is underway. The state government is on the look out for anchor tenants for the project.

As per the estimates of the Orissa IT department, the Infocity-II project is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2012 and the project is set to attract investments worth Rs 4,000 crore from IT ad ITes (IT enabled services) companies.

The proposed Infocity-II project will generate direct and indirect employment for about four lakh people in the information technology (IT) and ITes sectors.

Presently, more than 18,000 professionals are engaged in the IT sector in the state while the ITes sector had a workforce of over 15,000.

The Infocity-II project would be a part of the proposed IT investment region in the state. The IT investment region (ITIR) in Orissa was to be developed on an area of 40 sq km (around 10,000 acres) between Bhubaneswar and Khurda.

The ITIR project in the state is expected to be fully operational by 2020.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Genpact, the BPO arm of the US-based General Electric, had aimed to operationalize its delivery centre in the city by the fourth quarter of 2009-10. But as things stand today, the project is unlikely to take off before March 2010. …

Initially, Genpact planned to hire 500 professionals for its delivery centre in the city and later ramp up the headcount to 3,000.

Genpact had so far only put up a boundary wall for its proposed centre which would have a total built-up area of seven lakh sq ft. Another IT firm MindTree Consulting Limited which had announced a software development centre in Bhubaneswar at an investment of Rs 200 crore is non-committal on its project.

MindTree was scheduled to commence construction work for its development centre in September 2008. The software firm had sought 30 acres of land for its development centre and it had a long-term manpower requirement of 5,000 employees.

Meanwhile, the projects of other IT investors like Zensar Technologies, ICICI Group, Raheja Corporation and Apeejay Surrendra Group were now put on the back burner, given the slump in demand for IT projects, the official added.

ICICI bank, which had announced to set up its eastern regional hub in the city in May 2007, is understood to have submitted a fresh building plan to the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) after the notification of the revised building norms by the authority. With a built-up area of 1.5 million sq ft, the eastern regional hub of ICICI bank will have a pool of 15,000 employees in the long-run. The project is to be developed in phases over a period of six to seven years at an estimated investment of Rs 600 crore. Similarly, Zensar Technologies was allotted three acres of land in the Infocity area of the city by the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… IL&FS-IDC had earlier submitted its draft report to the state government in February this year. However, the project had to be reworked by IL&FS-IDC in the wake of the Centre’s proposal to develop an airport in the same area.

Sources close to the development said, the plan to develop the airport has been okayed by the state government and the proposed airport would be a part of the IT investment region.

The airport will come up on an area of about 2,300 acres close to the site of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Orissa which is being set up over 835 acres of land at Jatni, about 20 km from the city.

… The IT investment region (ITIR) in Orissa will occupy an area of 40 sq km (around 10,000 acres) between Bhubaneswar and Khurda.

This ITIR project is expected to be fully operational by 2020.In the final project report, IL&FS-IDC had included among other things an airport, a global IT training centre, a bio-tech park and a science city spread over 350 acres.

The Infocity-II project being set up by the state government on over 600 acres of land at Janla on the outskirts of the city would also be a part of the IT investment region.

The ITIR would be developed in two phases out of which 20 per cent of the investment is committed for the first phase while the balance 80 per cent of the investment will come in the second phase.

The entire cost of the project is yet to be ascertained. While the Centre will provide external infrastructure for the project in the form of roads, the onus is on the state government to acquire land for the project.

According to the project plan of IL&FS-IDC, 40 per cent of the area of the ITIR would be earmarked for the processing units of information technology (IT) and ITes sectors (IT enabled services) as well as electronics and hardware manufacturing units.

The remaining 60 per cent of the area would be devoted to the non-processing facilities like research and development centre, technological institutes of national and international repute.

This apart there would be a central business district, an integrated township comprising social infrastructure facilities like schools, hospitals and shopping malls and external infrastructure like roads.

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.

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 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.