___________

Update:

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has committed an investment of Rs 500 crore for a downstream industrial park in Orissa.

This is the latest in a string of investment plans announced by the company in the state which includes a greenfield steel plant, a coal to liquid project and a proposed deep sea port.

The steel company on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government for setting up the park at Parang in Angul district. The downstream industrial park is expected to attract investments of Rs 5,000 crore besides generating employment opportunities for 32,000 people, both direct and indirect.

The park is also set to generate tax revenue worth Rs 700 crore per annum for the state government.

The pact was signed between T Ramachandru, principal secretary (industries), Orissa government and Anand Goel, joint managing director of JSPL.

The park, to come up over 1,400 acres of land, is expected to be operational by the end of 2014. It will focus on medium and small scale downstream units that would both add value and result in increased industrial activity.

The industries targeted for the park include steel rolling and other mills for downstream steel products, forging units, beam welding plants, ferro alloy units, pipe manufacturing units, galvanizing and colour coating units, foundries as well as food processing and coal storage units.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The Centre has cleared Tisco’s proposal for establishment of a multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) at Gopalpur, Orissa steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty told the Assembly today.

… Mohanty said the civil construction work for the project was currently in progress at the proposed site. The work for the boundary wall and road project has already begun.

At the proposed SEZ site, Tisco will set up an industrial park. The company will invest Rs 1,000 crore in the park and set up a 4-lakh tonne per annum steel rebar mill, a 55,000 tonne ferro chrome plant and a 1.2-million gallon per day water desalination plant.

For the infrastructure development, Rs 5,000 crore will be invested. Once the park is developed, Rs 15,000 crore will be invested for the development of downstream industries. Mohanty said: “The park will invite investment in steel, accessories of motor vehicles, apparel, gems, jewellery, speciality chemicals and other technical areas.”

Following is from Sambada.

The various news reports that initially came after Mr. Jindal met the CM, such as the above, did not mention anything regarding Mr. Jindal wanting iron ore linkage for his steel plants. But reports on the next day mentioned that. Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), which is all set to commission its 2 million tonne steel plant next month, is desperately looking for iron ore linkage.

JSPL vice-president and managing director Naveen Jindal urged Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik for allotment of a captive iron ore mine for the plant.

Jindal met the Orissa CM on Tuesday and discussed the steel project and the captive power plant.

Sources in the government told FE that the JSPL managing director has requested the chief minister Naveen Patnaik to ensure raw material security for the plant through suitable iron ore concession.

Following is from a report in Economic Times.

What’s in it for the locals?

Asit Swain, who lives in Nawagaam, one of the affected panchayats, told ET that the compensation package has been finalised. Farmers will get Rs 11,500 for every decimal (one-tenth of an acre) of betel vine plantations and Rs 18 lakh for every acre where two crops can be grown in a year.

Those growing cashew or farming prawns on government land (without land titles) will get Rs 2 lakh per acre. As for the landless,they will get Rs 2,250 per month till they find employment. They will also get a sum, added Swain, equal to a fifth of what the betel vine cultivators and farmers get.

In addition, two months ago, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) recommended a new clause be added to the MoU stipulating that 90% of the unskilled and semiskilled workers, 60% of the skilled workers and 30% of the managerial posts in the project be hired from the local community.

What’s in it for Posco?

Clearly, the project continues to be hugely lucrative for Posco, which is why the company is staying on despite all these delays. The company will get a guaranteed supply of iron ore for at least 30 years, a commodity, whose prices have soared 43% since the beginning of last year.

From recent news that are coming out (see for example,  http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/anti-posco-brigade-hit-hard-by-defectionvillagers/434888/ ) it seems like the POSCO project will now sail through.

With that assumption, I suggest that the government take better care of the people that are being displaced and keeps it focus on the "From mineral resources to Human resources" theme.

To take better care of the displaced people:

(a) the government must have a mechanism to ensure that the compensation paid to the people is not blown away in a year or 2 and the displaced people have nothing to fall back on. Some approaches such as annuity payments for part of the compensation and making the people a shareholder of the plant with specialized shares, which can not be sold immediately, need to be considered. In addition the R & R must include the education of all kids (of displaced people) in decent schools (DAV type), similar to what Vedanta University Project was/is(?) doing in Puri.

To address the "mineral resources to Human resources" goal:

(b) the government must insist that POSCO establish in Odisha a significant branch (or a similar institute) of its top ranked (in research) university POSTECH of S. Korea. This is the least they can and should do for being assured of raw minerals at a low low price.

(c) the government must insist that POSCO establish more of its ancillaries in Odisha itself rather than in other states.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

Orissa government today approved nine new projects, including coal-to-liquid (CTL), steel and aluminium units involving investment of Rs 1,36,000 crore.

The projects got the final nod at a meeting of the high-level clearance authority chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Industries secretary T Ramachandru said.

Apart from two CTL, two steel and one aluminium units, the approved projects included a power plant, one textile unit, a paper plant and an aluminium park, he said.

Among the major proposals was the Rs 42,000 CTL project of Jindal Symflex Ltd to be set up at Durgapur in Angul district using German Lurgi technology, he said adding its capacity would be 80,000 barrels per day.

Requiring 4,000 acre of land, the project would have an 1100 mw captive power plant. Set to provide 6500 direct employment, it would use 90 cusec water from river Mahanadi.

Another CTL project is proposed to be set up by Strategic Energy Technology Systems Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of Tata and Saso, at an investment of Rs 35,000 crore at Gudiakateni in Dhenkanal district.

With a capacity of 80,000 barrels per day, the project requiring 4,000 acre land would have 1100 mw generation facility. It would generate 6700 direct employment while drawing 90 cusec water from river Mahanadi.

An aluminium project is proposed to be set up by a joint venture of L&T and Dubal at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore over an area of 4000 acre in Rayagada district. Its refinery would have 3 mtpa capacity and smelter 1.5 mtpa. It would draw 60 cusec water from river Nagavali.

Seeking to further raise energy production, the HLCA cleared a proposal of Lanco Dabandh Power Ltd to have another 1320 mw unit at an investment of Rs 5000 crore in addition to its earlier plant of same capacity in Dhenkanal district.

In textile sector, Andhra Pradesh based NSL Textiles Ltd would set up an integrated textile plant at an investment of Rs 1500 crore with a promise to provide 5000 jobs and steps to encourage one lakh farmers to grow cotton over an area of 2.25 lakh hectares of land.

Following are excerpts from a report in Pioneer.

With this, the total investments in the State’s industry sector went up to `5.36 lakh crore.

… Principal Secretary of Industries, T Ramachandru said the two ambitious coal-to-liquid projects are first of its kind in the country to be set up in joint venture. While Jindal Synfuels Limited of Jindal Steel and Power would set up a `.42,000-crore plant with technical collaboration of Largy of Germany, Strategic Energy Technology, a Tata venture, would establish its project with an investment of `45,000 crore with technological collaboration of Sasol of South Africa.

He said Jindal;s plant would be located at Durgapur in Angul district with a production capacity of 80,000 barrels of diesel and other petroleum products per day. Besides, Jindal Synfuels would also establish a 1100-MW captive thermal power plant. The project would require 90 cusecs of water to be drawn from the Mahanadi. It would require about 4000 acres of land. It would provide employment to around 6,500 persons.

The Tatas would set up their project in Dhenkanal district in 4,000 acres of land with a requirement of 90 cusecs of water. The project, which includes a 1,100-MW captive power plant, has direct employment potential of 6,400 persons and would produce 80,000 barrels of petroleum products per day, Ramachandru said.

He said both the projects have already been allotted with coal blocks by the Central Government.

Aditya Aluminium would establish an aluminium park at Katarbaga near Rengali in Sambalpur district by investing `1,300 crore to encourage ancillary and downstream industries in the small-scale sector. The park, which would require 211 acres of land, would facilitate units like foundry, wire drawing, extrusion and coil in its cluster.

The HLCA also approved the proposal of L&T Dubal, a joint venture company of L&T and Dubal Aluminium of Dubai, to establish an integrated aluminium project with a 3-MTPA alumina refinery and a 1.5-MTPA smelter with an investment proposal of `30,000 crore. The aluminium project would be located at Rayagada. The project, whichwould provide direct employment to 3,000 persons, would require 4,000 acres of land and 60 cusecs of water to be drawn from Nagavali river. The company is already in possession of bauxite mines.

Andhra Pradesh-based NSL Textile has also received clearance of its proposal to set up an integrated textile project at Rayagada with 3-lakh spindle capacity. The company would invest `1,500 crore to produce 6,000 pieces of cloths of varied qualities per day, Ramachandru said. He said the company would enter into agreements with farmers for cultivation of cottons to meet its raw material demands. The company would involve at least one lakh cotton growers for cultivation of cotton in 2.5 lakh acres of land in a buyback process. It would instal ginning, cotton processing, yarn preparation and finished clothes plants. It requires 400 acres of land Besides these new projects, the Industries Secretary said, the HLCA cleared the proposal of JK Paper Ltd of Rayagada to expand its capacity to 1.5 lakh tonne per annum with an involvement of `1,475 crore. With the capacity addition, the company would provide employment to 3,800 more persons. The company has applied for 150 acres of land to its existing 659 acres to set up the expansion project.

The HLCA also accorded approval to Adhunik Metalics to expand its steelmaking capacity to 3.2 MTPA in its Kuanramunda project in Sundargarah district. The company, which proposes an additional investment of `8,125 crore, promises to provide 2,100 more jobs. Presently, its production capacity is around .041 MTPA. It requires 100 acres of land for the expansion project.

OCL Iron and Steel Ltd got the clearance for capacity addition to its project at Kutnia, Rajgangpur to 0.95 MTPA at an investment of `2,834 crore. It proposes to provide 2,500 more direct jobs. It also envisages downstream industries and requires 650 acres land.

The HLCA also approved the proposal of existing Lacno Babandh Power Private Ltd at Khadakhprasad to double its power generation capacity from 1,320 MW.

It proposes to set up two new units of 660 MW and invest additional `5,000 crore in its thermal power plant. It requires an additional 700 acres of land and would provide employment to 800 more persons, the Industries Secretary said.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

• Overall: employment for 39104 people in the state by the end of December 2010.
• Steel sector: 31164 jobs which includes employment for 22399 people from the state and 8765 people from outside the state.
• Aluminium sector: 5474 people including 3657 from the state and the remaining 1817 outside the state. Investment worth Rs 11017 crore has been grounded in this sector.
• In the aluminium sector, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) has been the biggest job creator, generating over 5000 jobs through its one million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery project and 75 MW captive power plant (CPP) at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district and aluminium smelter complex at Burkhamunda near Jharsuguda with a smelter capacity of 0.25 mtpa and a 675 MW CPP. At its refinery plant, VAL has employed 2523 people from Orissa and 1091 persons from outside the state. Similarly, 1026 people have been engaged from the state for VAL’s smelter plant while 686 others have been hired outside the state. VAL’s total investment on the refinery plant and smelter complex stands at Rs 9084 crore.
• Aditya Aluminium Ltd has invested Rs 1875 crore on its one mtpa alumina refinery at Rayagada and a 0.26 mtpa smelter plant cum 650 MW CPP at Sambalpur. The company has created jobs for 63 people from the state and 34 others outside the state.
• Cement sector: The total employment generated stands at 1502 by the end of December last year.
• OCL Cement Ltd has generated employment for 1494 people and the company has invested Rs 697.46 crore out of a total project cost of Rs 850 crore for its 1.10 mtpa cement manufacturing unit at Rajgangpur. The other two investors in the cement sector- Ultratech Cement Ltd and ACC Cement Ltd have made negligible progress on their projects in the state.
• In the power sector, the Independent Power Plants (IPPs) have generated employment for 964 people.
• Sterlite Energy Ltd has commissioned the first unit (600 MW) of its 2400 MW IPP, four other IPPs- GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd, Monnet Power Company Ltd, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd and Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd have started construction.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

Steel players pay Rs 2041 cr tax to Centre, Rs 1038 cr to state

… the steel sector in the state has recorded an investment of Rs 51940.67 crore till the end of December 2010.

…The 50 steel companies that have inked MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government have generated direct employment for 21508 people besides creating indirect jobs for 52448 others.

Out of 21508 people engaged in the direct route, 14217 are from within the state and the remaining 7291 outside Orissa. In the indirect employment category, 38122 people from the state have got jobs and 14326 persons have been sourced from outside the state.

According to the state steel & mines minister Raghunath Mohanty, 29 out of these 50 steel firms have begun partial production, achieving a sponge iron output of 6.24 million tonne per annum (mtpa) and steel capacity of 7.79 mtpa.

These steel units have achieved a CPP (Captive Power Plant) capacity of 1062 MW and have spent Rs 61.21 crore on peripheral development till the end of December last year.

Among the steel investors who have made significant investments in the state are Bhushan Steel Ltd-Dhenkanal (Rs 12000 crore), Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd-Sambalpur ( Rs 7000 crore), Jindal Steel & Power Ltd-Angul (Rs 8470.96 crore), JSL Ltd-Kalinganagar (Rs 5367.59 crore), Essar Steel Orissa Ltd-Paradip (Rs 5077 crore), Adhunik Metalicks Ltd-Kuarnmunda (Rs 1740 crore), Visa Steel-Kalinganagar (Rs 1626.83 crore) and Tata Steel-Kalinganagar (Rs 1302.60 crore).

The units that have started partial production are Aarti Steels Ltd, Adhunik Metalicks Ltd, Visa Steel Ltd, Shyam DRI Power Ltd, Sree Metaliks Ltd, Jain Steel & Power Ltd, Eastern Steels & Power Ltd and Bhushan Steel Ltd to name a few.

…The envisaged capacity of all the steel companies, that have signed MoUs with the state government, is 83.66 mtpa and the state has attracted investments worth Rs 2.30 lakh crore in the steel sector.

Following is from a report in ibnlive.in.com.

• Of the total Rs 3,400 crore investment proposals approved by the SLSWCC, Rs 2,870 crore would be in the steel sector …
• SLWCC approved a proposal from Tata Steel to set up a re-bar mill and a hi-carbon ferrochrome unit at its Gopalpur SEZ in Ganjam district. The steel major would invest Rs 800 crore in the project … this time the company had been asked to use water through the process of desalination, Ramachandru said. While the Tata Steel was planning to manufacture 4 lakh metric ton of re-bar mill per annum from its re-bar mill unit, it would produce 55,000 metric tons of hi-carbon ferrochrome at the Gopalpur SEZ to be set up by the company.
• Other steel units included
  • a 0.6 mtpa integrated plant at an investment of Rs 925 crore by Shyam Steel Industry
  • Sri Bajrang Power & Ispat company’s 0.12 mtpa steel plant at an investment of Rs 500 crore
  • another 0.21 mtpa plant at an investment of Rs 645 crore by Rupa Ispat
• Aryan Mining and Trading Corporation Limited’s proposal for setting up an ore benefication plant at Koeda in Sundargarh district at an investment of Rs 423 crore was also okayed
• Kashivi International’s proposal to set up an iron ore pellet plant at an investment of Rs 56 crore was also cleared
• Binani Cement Limited which had initially decided to set up a cement plant at Dhamra in Bhadrak district had been allowed to shift its unit to Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district

Update 2: The following excerpt from a report in Telegraph elaborates on the point where this may head to the courts.

Giving conditional clearance to the project, the Union environment and forests ministry had yesterday asked the state for an assurance that no one was so entitled. At stake is the final approval for the diversion of 1,253 hectares of forestland for the steel plant and its captive port.

Jagatsinghpur collector Narayan Jena today argued that no one met the criteria under which they could legitimately stake claim to any part of the forestland. This was challenged by the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, which is resisting the project.

Under the 2006 law, tribals can claim rights over forestland on which they are currently living or dependent for livelihood. According to the state government, no tribal lives in the project area.

However, the 2006 law also allows Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) to claim forest rights provided they satisfy three criteria. The claimants must:

• Have lived on the forestland for 75 years prior to December 13, 2005;

• Have been in occupation of the land before December 13, 2005;

• Be dependent on the forestland for their “bona fide” livelihood needs.

Collector Jena declined comment on the Union ministry’s riders since the official order is yet to be received, but tried to clear the air on the matter of forest rights.

He said the project area had been notified as protected forest area only in 1961 — so technically, no OTFD could claim to have lived in a “forest” there for 75 years. “Had there been tribals in the area, the situation would have been different. But no OTFD can claim such benefits because its forest status does not go back 75 years,” he said.

He conceded that the area was part of Burdwan estate before 1952, when there were reserve forests in Jatadhari and Bhuyanpal, which are part of the project area. But he insisted that the area was completely uninhabited now.

However, the Union tribal ministry says that claimants under the OTFD category do not have to prove they live on the forestland but only that they depend on it for their “bona fide” livelihood needs.

Jena countered this by alleging that claimants to land in the project area were encroachers, implying their claims about dependence for livelihood would be untenable.

Update: Following is from an editorial in Economic Times. I am in agreement with the observations there.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has passed the Posco buck, nominally to the government of Orissa but, in reality, to the courts. His final clearance of the project depends on a categorical assertion by the government of Orissa that there are no ‘other traditional forest dwellers’ among those whose land would be diverted for the project. … Now, if the government of Orissa does provide the Centre with the categorical assertion that it has sought on the nature of the people who would be displaced, it is inevitable that the villagers would go to court.

Whether the affected villagers are indeed people whom the Forest Rights Act seeks to protect is a matter of fact that would then be left to the courts to verify, beyond final challenge in the Supreme Court. This will take time. But a lengthy pilgrimage through the shrines of graded sanctity of Indian legality is not the only future open to Posco. The company can make a fresh, larger-hearted and better funded effort to win over the villagers whose lives and livelihoods would be disrupted by the project than the current one rejected by the villagers. People need certainty about their future incomes and occupations, and these would need to be superior to what they are asked to give up. This would not take much, given how the villagers eke out a living. But it does call for imagination, empathy and a willingness to engage directly with the villagers and not just with political and bureaucratic powerbrokers.

… The state has to show its earnestness. At the same time, companies and their projects must respect, not bend, the people of India and their laws. The Posco decision sets the stage for companies to show how they are inclined.

While the news media is buzz with the conditional approval of POSCO by the environment ministry, the interview with NAC Chairperson NC Saxena elaborates on the nuance behind the approval. While I am not conversant with the detailed aspects of the law here, I hope the Odisha government follows the law of the land to the dot and makes sure that displaced as well as project affected people are adequately and properly compensated. At the same I hope people and groups who blindly oppose this focus their attention towards helping the project affected and displaced people.

Following are excerpts from a CNBC-TV18 interview of NC Saxena which spells out the nuances behind the non-approval approval.

Korean steel giant POSCO has welcomed the conditional approval, which comes three years after the plant was first envisaged. It says it will maintain 25% of the area allocated for the steel plant as green cover. As per the ministry’s conditions, POSCO says it will earmark 2% of its net India profits for its corporate social responsibility drive. It will also work on creating sustainable livelihood options for people affected by the project. POSCO adds that it plans to ensure conservation of land and marine environment at the site. However, member of the National Advisory Council or NAC, NC Saxena has said that the order should not be read as a clearance. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Saxena said the Orissa government should recognise the rights of the people. The Orissa government’s rehabilitation package is very weak, he said. He however added that the package was not the concern of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

…Q: Finally a clearance being given to POSCO by the ministry of environment but you and your panel had said that there were several violations of the forest rights act by the Orissa government while the land acquisition had actually taken place. Now if I look at the order that’s been put out by the ministry of environment it clearly says that the final approval for diversion of 1253 hectares of forest land for the POSCO project would be granted as soon as there is an assurance from the state government to the ministry of finance that there is indeed no violation as far as other traditional forest dweller rights are concerned, how are you reading this?

A: Infact I don’t think it can be read as a clearance because if you see the order very carefully it very clearly says that there are conditions to be satisfied. For instance it says that there are 3 conditions. People have to be living there for the last three generations, people have to be in occupation since December 2005 and also they should depend on forest lands. Orissa government’s case was that occupation is also necessary for 3 generations which is not true.

So I am very happy that the minister has clarified that it is only living which is there for 3 generations. Minister has also clarified that these people who are forest dwellers they don’t have to claim their rights, its for the state government to recognize their rights, so therefore Orissa government if it is to stick to its own records would find it very difficult to declare that none of these condition are satisfied and I am sure that people will get justice.

Q: … so then how does one actually progress from here because the riders are going to be very difficult for the Orissa government to comply with?

A: The Orissa government should first of all recognize the rights of these people and grant the rights under the forest rights act, then they can acquire the land under the land acquisition law. I do not know why Orissa government is not willing to talk to the people. The other point is Orissa governments rehabilitation package is very weak.

They recognize rehabilitation only for those who are displaced. It should also recognize those who are affected so therefore a large number of people are losing their livelihoods, their incomes are being affected and they should also be compensated. Once you do that, if my income is Rs 5000 a month and Orissa government says I will give you Rs 10000 I am sure I will be very happy so that’s how Orissa government should deal with resentment.

Q: … this doesn’t really spell out what more needs to be done to strengthen the rehabilitation package?

A: Rehabilitation package is not the concern of the Ministry of Environment and Forest and therefore the minister has rightly not dealt with that issue but that is certainly an issue which the Orissa government and also the Ministry of Tribal affairs should be concerned with.

The ministries concern, the MoEF’s concern was only with the forest conservation act and the environmental protection act and therefore they have not commented but of you read Meena Gupta’s report and also the 3 members report they have dealt with this question in great detail and they have suggested how to strengthen and augment the whole rehabilitation package.

Q: … hence the uncertainty continues?

A: Infact yes I would say that uncertainty does not continue. Orissa government has been given a very clear order and they should comply with it …

So Orissa government should go ahead recognize their forest rights and then only think of further action. So therefore I think a very clear order has been given and it can be complied with. The project can also be completed provided Orissa government has a good rehabilitation package and observes all the laws specially the Forest Rights Act.

Update: A DNA report the next day has this to say:

The favourable stand taken by the expert appraisal committee (EAC) on the POSCO steel plant in Orissa does not ensure an automatic green signal to the project, environment minister Jairam Ramesh has said.

… EAC’s positive recommendations are seen as a precursor to the ministry’s clearance for a project. Set up under the environment impact assessment notification of 2006, the committee assesses a range of issues related to a proposed project and recommends whether or not to grant approval to it. The ministry generally goes by its recommendation.

Ramesh clarified that a final decision on POSCO would be taken only after two weeks. The response has again put the fate of India’s biggest foreign direct investment project in doubt.

Following is from a report in DNA.

After running into several hurdles, the Rs51,000-crore POSCO steel plant project in Orissa has finally received the green signal from environment minister Jairam Ramesh. The decision comes as a big relief for the Indian industry which has been under tremendous pressure due to objections raised by the ministry over environment issues.

The steel project, being promoted by South Korean steel major POSCO in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, is the biggest foreign investment in the country. It was put on hold after the ministry cited violations of environment and forest laws by the company. The decision of the expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the ministry followed several public hearings and meetings with officials of POSCO India limited and the state government.

The EAC, however, has imposed tough conditions — running into 80 clauses — on the promoters. The most important of these is that at least 5% of the total cost of the project should be earmarked for corporate social responsibility. This means, POSCO will need to set aside at least Rs2,000 crore for this purpose only.

The committee also announced the resettlement and rehabilitation policy for tribals and fishermen to be affected by the project. Of 4,004 acres of the project area, 3,566 acres is revenue forest land. The company has acquired nearly 100 acres for resettlement of 418 families. The compensation for betel vine growers has been doubled and fishermen would get Rs2,00,000 per acre of prawn pond. Earlier, there was no compensation norm for fishermen.

The committee agreed that the plant area of 4,000 acres is compact for a 12 MTPA integrated steel plant with a captive power generation capacity and a port. It said construction of the port and development of greenery within the plant on 1,000 acres (25% of plant area) should commence simultaneously with the plant’s construction and be completed within eight years.

The project proposes establishing an integrated steel plant which will have an initial capacity of four MTPA and final capacity of 12 MTPA. It will have a captive port and a power plant of 400 MW. The EAC agreed with the seasonal basis on which the clearance was recommended in 2007 but insisted that on the basis of comprehensive environment impact assessment (EIA) report placed before it, aspects set out in subsequent paragraphs of these minutes must be revisited during the implementation of the project and conformity to norms verified and reported to the ministry.

The promoters have been asked to take steps to check vehicular pollution during transportation of raw material and finished products as well as dust emission during loading and unloading.

Raw material shall be stacked at earmarked sites in sheds/stockyards with wind breakers/shields and secure of fire hazard.

Following is from a Business Standard report.

The state has attracted investments worth Rs51963.54 crore in the July-September quarter of 2010-11, reinforcing its image as an investor friendly destination.

… Of the 22 proposals that the state has received in the July-September period of this fiscal, seven have been in the energy sector followed by six in the steel and mines sector and three in the cement sector.

Investment proposals in the energy sector have been to the tune of Rs32024.76 crore with a cumulative capacity of 5175 Mw. Hecate Power Company Ltd has proposed to set up a 1080 Mw (4×270) thermal power plant in Bolangir district at a cost of Rs5350 crore.

Samvijaya Power and Allied Industries Ltd has proposed to set up a 1320 Mw (2×660) thermal power plant at Rampela in Jharsuguda district at an investment of Rs6828.38 crore.

Another power firm- Arissan Energy Ltd has also proposed to set up 1320 Mw (2×660) thermal power plant at the same location, entailing an investment of Rs6828.38 crore.

Similarly, Action Ispat and Power Ltd has evinced interest in setting up a 1320 Mw (2×660) thermal power plant at Puruna Pani in Boudh district at a cost of Rs8079.74 crore.

Embassy Nirman Pvt Ltd has proposed to set up a 135 Mw coal based power plant at Ghantikhal in Cuttack district at an investment of Rs618 crore.

Moser Baer Power and Infrastructures Ltd has proposed to put up a 1320 Mw (2×660) power plant in Bolangir district at a cost of Rs7400 crore.

Sonepur Energy and Oil City Pvt Ltd has lined up an investment of Rs5000 crore in setting up a gas processing plant and petrochemical complex at Sonepur in Ganjam district.

In the steel sector, ARSS Steel & Power Ltd has proposed to set up a three million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant at Boinda in Angul district, involving an investment of Rs10900 crore.

Similarly, Neepaz B C Dagara Steels Pvt Ltd, has planned to set up a 0.4 mtpa integrated steel plant and a 45 Mw captive power plant (CPP) at Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district at a cost of Rs1152 crore.

International Minerals Trading Company Pvt Ltd has proposed to set up an iron ore fines beneficiation plant at Barbil in Keonjhar district at a cost of Rs150 crore.

In the cement sector, Visa Cement Ltd intends to set up a portland cement plant at Bargarh at a cost of Rs1840 crore. Jaipur Cements Pvt Ltd has proposed to set u a 0.5 mtpa cement grinding plant at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district at a cost of Rs63.50 crore.

Bhushan Infrastructure Ltd has planned an integrated township at Mangalpur in Dhenkanal district at an investment of Rs425 crore. J K Paper Ltd plans to set up a paper board plant at Jaykaypur in Rayagada district at a cost of Rs1475 crore.

Following is from a PTI report in http://www.smartinvestor.in/market/Marketnews-45973-Marketnewsdet-Tata_Steel_project_to_come_upinOrissaby_2014.htm.

Tata Steel is optimistic about operating its proposed industrial park project at Gopalpur in Orissa’s Ganjam district and commissioning the steel plant at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district by 2014.

The company gave this assurance to the state government today when Tata Steel’s Managing Director H M Nerurkar met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a review meeting on the proposed industrial park at Gopalpur.

"We will be able to operate the industrial park at Gopalpur by March 2013 and commission first phase (3 mtpa) of the steel plant at Kalinga Nagar by March 2014," Nerurkar told reporters after meeting the chief minister.

Stating that work on both the projects is going on smoothly, the Tata Steel MD said that a peaceful industrial environment was gradually being established at Kalinga Nagar where the company’s proposed 6mtpa steel plant was being set up.

Though the company had signed MoU to set up a 6mtpa greenfield steel factory at an investment of Rs 15,600 crore in 2004, the project could not meet the deadline of 2010 due to opposition from the local people.

However, now the new commissioning target was March 2014, Nerurkar said, adding that the company had so far invested Rs 1,500 crore in the steel plant project. Tata Steel has also placed equipment orders worth Rs 6,300 crore and some machinery had reached the project site.

About 60 per cent of the land at Kalinga Nagar industrial complex had been acquired so far, Nerurkar said.

Referring to the Industrial Park, the foundation stone of which was laid by the Chief Minister on August 20 earlier, Nerurkar said that construction of the boundary wall work was going on smoothly.

The industrial park is expected to attract investment of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore and generate employment for about 10,000 people, company sources said, adding Tata Steel would invest Rs 1,000 crore in the project.

The proposed Industrial Park includes a 50,000-TPA ferro chrome plant and 400,000-TPA rebar steel mill. Both the units were expected to generate employment opportunities for more than 1,000 people.

The park will primarily attract investments in steel and allied downstream industries, engineering, chemicals and other emerging sectors.

The company which had initially acquired land for setting up a steel plant in mid 90s, however, scrapped the project due to non-availability of water for the purpose.

Tata Steel would use techniques to use sea water by desaliation besides designing rainwater harvesting and 100 per cent recycling.

Tata Steel group is investing Rs 35,000 crore in the steel, ferro alloys, port, power and other sectors in Orissa.

Following is from a report in Hindu Businessline.

… Orissa government on Friday approved fresh investment of Rs 6,500 crore …

The investment proposals were approved by the Single Window Clearance Committee (SLWCC) meeting chaired by the chief secretary Mr B K Patnaik here.

“The 16 projects approved today will give direct employment to 15,000 people and provide indirect employment for another 25,000 persons,” Industries secretary Mr Sourav Garg told reporters adding that projects worth less than Rs 1,000 crore got clearance from the SLWCC.

Stating that the projects were in cement (4 units), food processing (one unit), manufacturing (one unit), power (one unit), paper (one unit) and steel (five units) sectors …

The name of the companies and additional details are given in this report from Samaja.

Following is from a report in Orissadiary.

The 6-million tonne Essar Steel pellet plant here will be made operational by October this year. The `2,200-crore project includes an 8-MT ore beneficiation plant at Joda and Barbil and a 250-km slurry pipeline from Joda to Paradip. The company plans to expand the beneficiation and pellet manufacturing capacities to 12 MT in the future.

Initially, the company will source iron ore from private mines at Joda and Barbil. However, the company expects that the State and Central Governments will grant it lease for a captive mine in the long run.

The pellets to be produced at Paradip would be exported through the Paradip Port to Essar’s steelmaking unit at Hazira in Gujarat, which is undergoing a capacity expansion to 9.6 MT from 4.6 MT by 2012, said sources.

Following is excerpts from an interview in Business Standard. The investment numbers mentioned there does not quite gel with the numbers mentioned above.

Is there a time frame for realising the long-term vision?

It arises from the commitments, as well as MoUs (memorandums of understanding) with various state govts. These are linked to raw material. It’s a chicken and egg story. You need the raw material, otherwise you are not going to invest. We have our plans in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh. In Orissa, we are already completing the first phase. In Karnataka, we have signed the MoU and the government is looking to provide land. But we also want the mines. We don’t want to create a situation where all the investments are done and then you say the mines are not available.

The Orissa government has a clause in the MoU that the state will recommend mines once you have made commitments for 25-30 per cent.

Yes, commitments have to be made, which implies it could be orders. But a 12-million tonne plant will cost anything between $12 billion and $15 billion. Thirty per cent of that will be $4.5 bn. How can anyone expend $4.5 bn in the hope that one will get the mines? It’s easier for smaller players.

Following are extracted from his article in Economic Times.

• The port town in Jagatsinghpur district, about 120 km from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, has already emerged as one of the country’s major investment hotspots by attracting investment in excess of Rs 3.5 lakh crore including the Rs 2, 74,134 crore Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) and the biggest FDI proposal by Posco to build a 12-million ton steel plant at an estimated cost of Rs 51, 000 crore.
• The port town already boasts of major fertilizer manufacturers like IFFCO and Paradeep Phosphates Limited, a brewery along with central depot of Indian Oil and other small industries like Kargil Oil, Paradeep Carbon and a host of other units.
• … an integrated Petroleum, Chemicals, and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) promoted by the state government on the lines of Pudong in China, Rotterdam in Europe and Houston in North America.
• IOC is already coming up with 15 MMTPA grassroot refinery cum petrochemical complex five kilometer to the south of Paradeep Port at an estimated cost of Rs 25,646. For this, the state government has given incentives to IOC by exempting entry tax on crude oil and sales tax deferment for 11 years. The IOC already has got the required 3344 acres of land.
• The Railways is also committed to boost connectivity in the Paradeep region which includes the 82-km Paradeep-Haridaspur broad gauge line, being taken up at an investment of Rs 577.78 crore. East Coast Railway (ECoR) has acquired 1,146 acres of private land out of the total of 1,653 acres of land required for the project. This project being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is scheduled for completion by March 2011.
• The other projects in different stages of implementation Hydrate Pellets Ltd’s six lakh tone hydrate pelts plant at Rs 10,724 crore, Essar Steel Orissa Ltd’s six million ton steel plant at Rs 10,721 cr], Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (DFPCL’s three lakh mtpa green-field complex for Nitric Acid and Ammonium Nitrate at Paradeep at a cost of Rs 400 crore NSL Sugar Ltd’s sugar plant at Rs 800 crore and other mini projects.
  

One other thing that is not elaborated in the article is that as part of the PCPIR several things will be funded by the state government and several other things will be funded by the central government.The following is excerpted from an older article in Business Standard.

• “The Centre would provide this money in two phases. While Rs388 crore would come in the first phase of the project, the balance Rs328 crore would be provided by the Government of India in the second phase”
• … six-laning of NH-5 (A), building a greenfield coastal corridor, construction of all-new greenfield road from Bhubaneswar to Paradip and upgradation of port infrastructure.

• The six-laning of the NH-5 (A) will be taken up in the second phase of the PCPIR project at a cost of Rs76 crore. The greenfield coastal corridor will involve an expenditure of Rs410 crore out of which Rs 264 will be invested in the first phase while the remaining expenditure of Rs146 crore will be incurred in Phase-II.

• The construction of all-new greenfield road from Bhubaneswar to Paradip will be taken up at a cost of Rs190 crore while Rs40 crore would be provided by the Centre for upgradation of port infrastructure.

• Meanwhile, the Orissa government has committed an expenditure of Rs1796 crore on infrastructure development for the PCPIR hub. Out of the envisaged expenditure of Rs1796 crore, Rs 754 crore will be spent on development of arterial roads, Rs 465 crore on water supply, Rs 410 crore on power distribution and Rs136 crore on canal upgradation.

To match these industrial investments in Paradip, the Odisha government needs to make plans for a university, an engineering college and a medical college for this area. Similar plans need to made for the other upcoming industrial hubs at Angul,  Kalinganagar, Jharsuguda and Rayagada; as well as the only existing industrial area of Rourkela which neither has a medical college nor has a regular university.

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 from the page http://kalinganagar.tatasteel.com/kalinganagar/vision-kalinganagar.asp.

Kalinganagar Industrial Area is projected to be developed for a population of over 10 lakh by 2025 and it will be extended to 177 square kilometers as envisaged by the State Government. In this connection, Lea Associates of South Asia in association with the School of Planning and Architect, New Delhi and the Centre for Environment and Planning (CEPT) presented a vision document to the Chief Minister for the development of Kalinganagar Industrial Area.

The Kalinganagar Industrial complex in Odisha has been a true realisation of the socio-economic dream that would lead the State into a new era of prosperity. Made possible through dedicated efforts of the State Government over several years, the complex is slated to contribute to the net GDP of Odisha and provide its people with sustained employment and other forms of gainful engagement in the upcoming projects and their ancillaries.



After the success of Asia’s first integrated steel plant set up by Tata Steel in the undivided Orissa-Bihar-Bengal in 1907, or the employment potential revealed by the Rourkela Steel Plant (operated by the state-owned Steel Authority of India), the demand for another mega steel plant in Odisha was strongly felt. This led Biju Patnaik, the then Chief Minister of Odisha to plan the Kalinganagar industrial complex, once 13000 acres of land was acquired in the Sukinda constituency of Jajpur district in 1992.



Today, the Government is stepping up the presence of industry as co-incidentally, the infrastructural boom in the global markets has generated high demands for steel. To strengthen the century old relationship between Odisha and Tata Steel, the Company signed the MoU for its most ambitious steel project in Odisha on November 17, 2004. As per this MoU, the Company will set up a six million ton green-field integrated Steel Plant at Kalinganagar in Jajpur District of Odisha. 



The other industrial projects in various stages of completion at the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex are M/s Nilachal Ispat Nigam Ltd., M/s Mid-East, M/s Jindal Stainless Steel Limited, M/s VISA Steel Ltd., M/s KJ Industries, M/s Maithon Alloys Ltd., M/s Rohit Ferro Tech, M/s Dinabandhu Steel, M/s Uttam Galva Ltd., etc.

Following article titled ” `Rahul hand behind POSCO, Vedanta mess’ – Cong counters BJD charge” is from Times of India Bhubaneswar edition. Thanks to HM for bringing this to our notice and sending it to us.

Following are excerpted from Pioneer reports at here and here.

• Vedanta Aluminum would enhance its refinery, smelter and power plant capacity with a total investment of `37,440 crore. Vedanta Aluminium company would enhance its production capacity Langigarh unit to six million tonne from existing one million tonne. The company would also enhance its production capacity of Jharsuguda aluminium unit to 1.6 million tonne from existing 0.25 million tonne per annum. Similarly, the company would also increase power generation capacity of its CPP (captive power project) to 1,350 mega watt from existing 675 MW at Jharsuguda.
  
• NSL Nagapatnam’s `8,900 crore investment plans in the State. The company would set up a 1320 MW power plant in Angul district at a cost of `6,600 crore, a 5,000-tonne sugar refinery at Paradip with an investment of `800 crore and a textile and spindle mill with 3 lakh spindles at a cost of `1,500 crore at Rayagada.
• ACC Cement’s `1,850 crore three MTPA cement project along with a 50 MW CPP in Malkangiri district 
• Bhusan Steel’s `3,000-crore steel park at Meramundali.
• SPI Ports to set up a 1,320 MW (2 x 660 MW) power plant at Mahakalpada in Kendrapara district at an investment of Rs 6,600 crore.
• KU Pvt Ltd would invest Rs 7,260 crore to set up a power project with 1320 MW power generating capacity at Thakurpur in Sonepur district.
• Rohit Ferro Alloys would spend Rs 2500 crore for setting up a 67.5 MW captive power plant at its 0.6 MTPA stainless steel project at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district.
• Aditya Aluminum to enhance the capacity of its Rayagada alumina refinery to 1.5 MTPA from the present 1 MTPA, and Jharsuguda smelter from 0.26 MTPA to 0.36 MTPA with an total investment of Rs 11,000 crore,
• Jindal India is proposing to enhance the capacity of its power plant from 1,200 MW to 1,800 MW with a total investment of Rs8, 000 crore.
• Ind-Bharat is proposing to expand its power project capacity from 700 MW to 1320 MW by adding a 660 MW unit with a total cost of Rs 3300 crore.
• Kalinga Energy, which is now shifting its site from Babuchaki in Sambalpur to Sodamal in Jharsuguda district has also got green signal to enhance the capacity of its power project from 1000 MW to 1320 MW with a total cost of Rs 6500 crore.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Kolkata-based Icore Group with interests in steel making, cement, gems and jewellery apparel and paints, would invest Rs 5,000 crore in Orissa setting up a 1.8 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant and a cement crushing unit with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per day.

The integrated steel cum cement complex would come up on 80 acres of land at Somanthpur in Balasore district. …

… Initially, Icore will start its steel plant operations with a capacity of 0.36 mtpa at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore and later scale up to 1.8 mtpa. While the cement crushing unit is set to commence operations from December 2010, the steel plant is expected to be operational by March next year.

In contrast Tata Steel is needing 3400 acres to set up a 6 MTPA steel plant in Kalinganagar. Perhaps I am missing something or something is amiss somewhere.

The face book page is at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/Tatasteelparivar. Following are some updates from that page.

• July 10, 1:19 AM: Construction at Site – The construction work at the main plant site will start shortly after the rehabilitation and resettlement process is completed. But other construction work to support the main plant like Intake Well, IM Section, Fabrication Yard, Hospital and most importantly the rehabilitation colonies and camps have already started.
• July 10, 1:22 AM
• July 12, 12:55 AM: Plant Equipments – Orders worth Rs 6,373 crore for the equipment and civil structures have already been placed. While the equipments like Blast Furnace and Sinter Plant for the steel plant have already been received and stored in the Tata Growth Shop and Agrico at Jamshedpur and Bamnipal, the orders for Steel Melting Shop and Coke Oven have been placed.
• July 12, 12:58 AM: Civil Structural Work – Orders of more than 1,000 crore for civil structural work has been placed.
• 12:59 AM: Intake Well – The intake well is located at Marthapur on the bank of river Brahmani, situated about 18 kms from the main plant site. This intake well will supply water to the plant.
• 1:00 AM: Fabrication Yard – The steel structures required for construction of different shops like steel melting shop, blast furnace etc are being fabricated at the Fabrication Yad at Jodabar. About 2200 MT of steel have already been fabricated at this unit. The members of Tata Steel Paribar after being trained are also working here.
• 11:42 PM: I M Section – The Company is constructing two covered sheds near Duburi to store the plant and machineries required for the construction of steel plant.
• 11:44 PM: Hospital – To extend better healthcare facilities to the people in and around Kalinga Nagar, Tata Steel is setting-up a hospital in Gobarghati rehabilitation colony. The hospital building is under construction on a land of 4 acres. When completed this hospital would serve 10,000 families with round-the-clock service, pathology lab and outdoor complex.
• 11:44 PM: Construction at the rehabilitation and resettlement Colonies – Tata Steel has developed three rehabilitation and resettlement colonies as well as five transit camps at Kalinga Nagar to ensure smooth living of the relocated families.
• 11:45 PM: Power to the Main Plant Site:- The Steel Plant at Orissa is a complex combination of Steel Processing technologies designed at much larger scale to improve efficiency and therefore have large demand on stability & control on operating areas including the Power generation & Distribution system.
• 11:45 PM: The plant has been designed with three separate sources to pull in Power and increase the tolerance of the system to handle large Power requirement of Steel Plant and with only GRID source during Construction
• 11:45 PM: The captive Power plant inside the Kalinganagar plant area fuelled by the By-product gases generated by the steel making process (CPP by Tata Power)
• 11:46 PM: Orissa Grid from 220 kV New Duburi GSSII Sub Station.
• 11:46 PM: Captive Coal based Power plant at Naraj Marthapur (CPP by Tata Power)
• July 13, 5:00 AM: Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS)a non-profit organisation has been trying to bring the displaced tribal communities of Jajpur District in Orissa to the mainstream through their socio-economic development. TSRDS has helped the tribal men and women from the displaced families in health care, safe drinking water, …sanitation, women empowerment, livelihood etc.
• July 14, 2:04 AM: Logistics – The life line of a steel plant is its logistics. It is a well known fact that every single ton of steel production needs transportation of minimum 4 ton of raw material and finished goods. So right from location selection to layout design, logistics plays a vital role in planning a new mega steel plant like the Kalinganagar Steel plant in Jajpur’ Orissa.
• 2:05 AM: Iron ore, coal (Domestic as well as imported) and imported limestone are the prime inputs for the steel plant. The Iron ore mines and main port of relevance i.e. Dhamra Port, is barely 100 KM from the plant site. For Orissa Steel Project all these sources are connected via rail linkages. Some through existing Indian R…ail network and some portion is planned under captive Logistic projects.
• 2:05 AM:  RITES had been appointed as the consultant to prepare the detail rail plan which consists of (a) The Traffic projection & Capacity calculation for the existing IR network (b) Rail alignment and Take off plan for Tata Steel’s Sidings. (c) Cost estimate of the total Project.
• 2:06 AM:  Apart from the plant internal rail yards Orissa Project, will require a 25 KM (Route Length) captive rail connection in Mines and a 20 KM (Route length) rail connection for plant connectivity to the nearest serving rail stations (Baghuapal & Jakhapura).
• 2:06 AM: These have been designed considering the highest operating efficiency level and zero process interruption probability. Railway Board and Zonal railway have finally accepted our comprehensive rail logistic proposal.
• 2:57 AM: At Integrated Industrial Complex, Kalinga Nagar, Duburi, in the district of Jajpur, in Odisha, a 6 million tonnes integrated steel plant of Tata Steel is proposed to be setup. Setting up the steel plant will necessitate displacement of about 679 families of three villages, namely, Gobaraghati, Chandia and Gadapur. Tata Ste…el has already started providing state of the art training for the members of the displaced families and would provide employment to one member of each extended family.Tata Steel is building model rehabilitation colonies for the resettlement of the displaced population so as to provide modern basic amenities and improved living conditions.Tata Steel believes that the primary purpose of the business is to improve the quality of life of people. Each of the displaced families will be a part of the ‘Tata Steel Parivar’ which is a committed and structured approach to ensure a better quality of life for the displaced families through focused interventions.
• July 15:  Apart from the plant internal rail yards Orissa Project, will require a 25 KM (Route Length) captive rail connection in Mines and a 20 KM (Route length) rail connection for plant connectivity to the nearest serving rail stations (Baghuapal & Jakhapura).
• These have been designed considering the highest operating efficiency level and zero process interruption probability. Railway Board and Zonal railway have finally accepted our comprehensive rail logistic proposal.
• Although the bulk of the Material movement for an operating steel plant is done via rail transport for all the external movement and through conveyor system for in-plant movements.
• But road transport also plays a vital role in the operating logistics of a steel plant, due to the fact that, there is no economical means of transporting a wide variety of materials required for or generated from the operation of process plants, which needs transportation in small quantity for a short distance.
• In addition, a significant portion of the finished goods movement is required to be transported by road vehicles only.
• But Unlike Jamshedpur, fortunately Kalinganagar industrial area is well-connected by road. Our Plant site is flanked by Daitari- Paradip express way which got converted to NH-200 recently and on the eastern side, the state highway connects the Sukinda Mines, to our plant site.
• A road transport planning for a steel plant includes building roadways and plant roads , parking stations, maintenance facilities, service roads, a transport circulation plan and a scientific traffic projection. All these have been done with the help of a professional organization.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… "After completing the official procedures, we will sign an MoU for the CTL project involving an investment of Rs 42,000 crore," JSPL Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Naveen Jindal told reporters after a meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here this evening.

…Stating that he discussed with the chief minister the group’s four projects comprising the Rs 52,000-crore steel plant, a thermal power plant involving Rs 6,600 crore, the Rs 42,000-crore CTL plant and an industrial complex envisaging an investment of Rs 500 crore, Jindal said a total of Rs 1,01,100 crore would be invested in Orissa over the next decade.

"We also discussed (with the chief minister) on our proposal of enhancing steel capacity from 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to 12.5 mtpa," he said, adding the department of steel and mines is likely to list this project for consideration of the task-force by the end of July.

Jindal said, on completion, "about 80,000 barrel of oil per day will be manufactured from the proposed CTL plant." The project is likely to be listed in next task-force meeting in July itself, he added.

… Earlier, the Tata Group, in collaboration with Sasol of South Africa, had evinced interest in setting up a similar coal-to-liquid plant in the state.

… Jindal indicated to set up the unit in Angul district where its steel plant is being built.

JSPL, which had already been alloted a coal block in the state, would complete its proposed CTL petroleum project in eight years, a company executive said, adding about 32,000 would get employment in the project.

… While many mega industries face difficulties in implementing their MoUs, the JSPL chief said his company got support of the local people in Angul district.

Besides these four mega projects, JSPL is also working on setting up an engineering college and a power training institute, Jindal said adding the company is committed to recruit local youths in its plants.