Archive for the 'INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE' Category

Inauguration of Orissa’s first auto component complex

Auto, Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack- Kalinganagar, Cuttack Comments Off on Inauguration of Orissa’s first auto component complex

20070830a_001101010auto.jpg

Following are excerpts from Telegraph’s report on it.

Laying the foundation stone of RSB Group’s auto-component complex at Choudwar, Patnaik said the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited would set up the industrial park that would house several auto-component manufacturers at Choudwar area of Cuttack.

The chief minister added his government would soon announce a policy for development of small and medium industries.

RSB group, a leading engineering and components manufacturing company is setting up Rs 360cr multi-product automobile component manufacturing project near Choudwar over 300 acre.

The project, to be set up in phases over five to seven years, would consist of a forging unit, an iron-casting unit, aluminium die-casting unit, machine shop and assembling unit. The casting and forging unit is expected to generate an estimated annual turnover of Rs 1,600cr by the end of fifth year and would generate employment for 2,500 people by that time.

Group chairman R.K. Behera said the project would cater to the requirement of Tata Motors. …
Ramakrishna Forgings, an Indian firm manufacturing auto components has expressed an interest to establish another plant near Chowdwar.Ipicol officials estimate the likely investment in the sector to be more than Rs 2,000 crore. Ipicol is trying to lure more investment into the sector by highlighting the easy availability of good quality pig iron and steel ingots, good quality pure aluminum ingots, steel flat products (plates, sheets HR and CR) and rounds.

Vedanta Resources plans JV to enter cement business near to its power plant in Orissa

Cement, Uncategorized Comments Off on Vedanta Resources plans JV to enter cement business near to its power plant in Orissa

Following it an extract from a report from Ecomic Times.

The $7-billion metals-to-power group , Vedanta Resources, on Friday invited companies to build cement plants in Orissa near its thermal power facilities by using fly ash, a by-product of burning coal and a key ingredient for making cement. Vedanta said it will keep open the option to partner prospective companies in the venture.

Vedanta has asked interested companies to submit plans by the first week of September. The fly ash will come from the coal-based power plants owned by Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources.

According to Vedanta’s statement, the power plants will generate about 8MT of fly ash. Industry experts said that a tonne of fly ash produces an equal amount of cement. But the by-product from Sterlite’s plants may also be used to feed brick manufacturing units and other ash utilising units in and around Jharsguda, said executives.

Sterlite had recently floated an energy subsidiary – Sterlite Energy – to build thermal power plants in Orissa’s Jharsguda district, with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW.

The power plants, to be built at an investment of $2 billion, will come up by 2009, Sterlite had announced earlier. Sterlite had earlier this year raised about $2 billion in the US market, to be mainly used for funding the power projects.

L&T to invest around Rs 400 cr in alumina joint venture in Orissa

Aluminium, INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE, L & T, Rayagada Comments Off on L&T to invest around Rs 400 cr in alumina joint venture in Orissa

Economic Times reported that

Larsen & Toubro, the country’s biggest engineering firm, will invest around Rs 400 crore in its proposed three million tonne alumina refinery joint venture with Dubai Aluminium Company (Dubal) in Orissa. It further said that "The total project cost would be Rs 15,000 crore. L&T would do the engineering, procurement and construction job for the project, which would cost around Rs 5,000 crore. The first phase of the plant at Rayagada with 1.5 million tons capacity is scheduled to be operational by 2010. In another similar report Zee News reported that Dubal will have the majority 74 per cent stake in the venture and the remaining 26 per cent will be with L&T.

16 investment proposals get a go ahead

Aluminium, Angul, Cement, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, INVESTMENTS and INVESTMENT PLANS, Jharsugurha, Keonjhar, Koraput, Steel, Sundergarh, Thermal Comments Off on 16 investment proposals get a go ahead

Follow are excerpts from a Statesman report.

The high powered committee headed by chief secretary Mr Ajit Tripathy today cleared 16 investment proposals, entailing an investment of approximately Rs 30,000 crore.

The projects mainly in the power, steel, aluminium and cement sectors were amongst the 40 project proposals placed before the committee. There were three steel and three power projects amongst the 16 which got the nod today.


Significantly while the Ashapura mines chemicals project proposal for a aluminium refinery was approved, the aluminium project of IMFA Group headed by Dr Bansidhar Panda was held up.


… two task forces had been constituted to further evaluate the proposals in the cement and power sectors. The Industry secretary will head the task force for cement sector projects while the development commissioner will be in charge of the task force for power projects, …

The power projects cleared by the committee today included the Bhusan Energy project which intends to establish a 2,000 MW thermal power plant at Angul with an investment of Rs 8,483 crore. The Visa Power Limited’s 1,000 mw Thermal Power plant at Brhamnabasta in Cuttack district at a cost of Rs 3,698 crore was also cleared while the third power project was of Monnet Energy at Sundergarh. It will be a 1,000 mw plant.


The Rs 4,232 crore aluminium project of Ashpura Mines Chemicals to come up in Koraput district was cleared. It aims at setting up a 5 lakh ton refinery and a 1.5 lakh ton smelter plant besides having a 300 MW captive power plant .


The Committee approved the three new steel plant projects and the expansion of existing five steel projects in the state.


Bonei Industry company’s project to set up a plant at Sundergarh at a cost of Rs 302 crore, M/s Rungta Sons Ltd’s proposal to set up a steel plant at Barmunda at a cost of Rs 930 crore and Free Grade company Ltd’s steel plant at Dhenkanal at a cost of Rs 603 crore were also cleared.


Expansion proposals of SMC Power Generation and MSP Mettalics at Jharsuguda, Braja Ispat, Rourkela and the Keonjhar Orient Ispat were given the go ahead by the committee.


ACC Cement’s proposal for investment of Rs 400 crore for its capacity development was approved while Goa Carbons Ltd’s proposal for a CPC coke plant with an investment of Rs 225 crore was also cleared.

Indian Railways must give ECOR and Orissa its fair share: KBK and other adivasi areas of Orissa and India can not be left behind while rest of India marches forward with high speed rail; metro rail and freight corridors

Balangir, Bhadrakh-Dhamara, Bhubaneswar-Nayagarh, Bouda, CENTER & ODISHA, Gajapati, INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE, INVESTMENTS and INVESTMENT PLANS, Kalahandi, Khordha, Koraput- Jeypore- Sunabedha- Damanjodi, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarha, Nuapada, Planning Commission and Odisha, Puri, Puri - Konark, Railways, Rayagada, Rayagada- Therubali, Sonepur, Sundergarh 1 Comment »

(1) ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address (available at http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php) while talking about ECOR, said:

 

 “With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.”

 

(2) From http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/messages

 

For the 2003-2004 and 2004-05 the working expense as part of gross earnings of the ECOR zone is the second best at 66.64% and 61.75% respectively.

 
  • The profit making zones in those years were
    • South east central (62.8% and 56.1%),
    • ECOR (66.64% and 61.75%),
    • North central (76.33% and 66.71%),
    • Central (80.29% and 82.48%),
    • South eastern (81.24% and 83.51%),
    • South Central (85.72% and 83.62%),
    • West Central (80.99% and 84.08%),
    • South Western (91.35% and 86.15%),
    • Western (93.21% and 90.85%),
    • Northern (91.08% and 92.89%) and
    • East Central (93.65% and 98.9%).
 
  • The loss making zones were:
    • metro Kolkata (247% and 264.38%),
    • North Eastern (151.93% and 160.88%),
    • Northeast Frontier (147.98% and 159.45%),
    • Eastern (161.3% and 152.84%),
    • Southern (118.55% and 120.79%) and
    • North Western ( 106.26% and 104.98%).
 

(3) Based on (1) and (2) above ECOR probably makes about 10% of Indian Railways profit.

 
 
 
 
 
 
(4) The above raises the following questions:
 

Why does not ECOR have the track length commensurate with the earnings it makes?

 

Why are no serious efforts being made to correct this; especially with many planned lines being given only minimal annual budgets which in many cases are less than the annual inflation.

 
(5) (Using the data in
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/deptts/stat-eco/yrbk0405/2004_05/YB_04_05/Track_Bridges.pdf)
 

In terms of rail density: the average rail density (2004-05) for India is 19.13; the rail density is highest in Delhi (138.2) followed by West Bengal (43.4), Punjab (41.6), Haryana (36.1), Bihar (35.9), Uttar Pradesh (35.8), etc. while Chhatisgarh (8.6) and Orissa (14.6) are among the states with low rail densities.

 

(6) The data from (1-3) and (5) show that while Indian Railways is making a lot of revenue and profit from ECOR (big part of which is in Orissa) and also SER (part of which is in Orissa), both ECOR and Orissa have been grossly neglected. This is true about the past; what about the future?

 
(7) From http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/07/30/stories/2007073050170600.htm

Mr V. N. Mathur, Member (Traffic) of the Railway Board is reported to have said:

 

“We’ve submitted to the Planning Commission a Rs 251,000-crore proposal for implementation by the end of the Eleventh Plan. We’ve indicated mobilisation of Rs 90,000 crore from within and 29 per cent of the projected estimate by way of market borrowing. For the balance, we may have to approach the government for support. But then nothing has yet been finalised.”

 

 (8) Many expensive and highflying plans by Indian Railways for the 11th plan, but most bypass Orissa and ECOR.

 

(8A) Freight Corridor: Various news reports suggest that the 11th plan (next 5-7 years) will take up the western and eastern corridors.

 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/Dedicated_railway_freight_corridor_enters_crucial_phase/rssarticleshow/2299686.cms

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9030.html

 

Western Corridor: 1,483-km Delhi-Mumbai route

Eastern Corridor: 1,280-km Delhi-Kolkata route
 

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/17/stories/2006091708640400.htm reports that the “Chennai-Kolkata and Chennai-Mumbai corridors will be included in the second phase of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.” 

(8B) High Speed Corridors:

 
http://zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=388176&ssid=50&ssname=&sid=BUS&sname=
 

“Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna — were announced in the current rail budget.”

 

(8C) Metro Rails and rapid transit systems: From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_India#Metro   and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Metro

 

The following are the existing or under construction/expansion metro rail projects.

  • Delhi Metro
  • Hyderabad Metro
  • Kolkata Metro
  • Kolkata Suburban Railway
  • Lucknow MEMU 
  • Chennai Metro
  • Mumbai Suburban Railway
  • Bangalore Metro
  • Mumbai Metro •
  • Thane Metro
  • In planning:
    • Ahmedabad Metro
    • Kochi Metro
    • Goa
    • Pune
 

(9) In essence revenue and profit generated in ECOR is being ploughed into other parts of India, which by itself is not wrong as Orissa is a part of India, but lets analyze who are the losers: the adivasi and backward areas of Orissa (and hence of India) who are backward partly because lack of proper connectivity, and this neglect continues to keep them backward and prevents them from catching up.

 
Am I making this up?
 

No, here are the data and following it is what planning commission teams have themselves said.

 

(10) The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:
Malkangiri 58.36% (+19.96% SC), Rayagada 56.04% (+14.28% SC), Nabarangpur 55.27% (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95% (+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88% (+8.77% SC).  Tirbal percentage of Mayurbhanj is 57.87% and Sundergarh is 50.74%.

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

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

 

(13) From http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article174.html

Table 1 provides State level data on poverty ratios during 2004-05. The lowest poverty ratio was 5.4 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir and highest poverty ratio was for Orissa (46.4 per cent). States with poverty ratio of less than 15 per cent were Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. As against them, States with poverty ratio above 30 per cent were Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Orissa.

Table 1: Number and Percentage of Population Below Poverty Line (2004-05) based on URP Consumption

 
 
Rural
 
 
 
Urban
 
 
 
Combined
 
State
% of Persons
No. of persons (in lakhs)
% of Persons
No. of Persons (in lakhs)
% of persons
No. of persons(in lakhs)
S.No.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
1 Jammu & Kashmir
4.6
3.7
7.9
2.2
5.4
5.9
2 Punjab
9.1
15.1
7.1
6.5
8.4
21.6
3 Himachal Pradesh
10.7
6.1
3.4
0.2
10.0
6.4
4 Goa
5.4
0.4
21.3
1.6
13.8
2.0
5 Haryana
13.6
21.5
15.1
10.6
14.0
32.1
6 Delhi
6.9
0.6
15.2
22.3
14.7
22.9
7 Kerala
13.2
32.4
20.2
17.2
15.0
49.6
8 Andhra Pradesh
11.2
64.7
28.0
61.4
15.8
126.1
9 Gujarat
19.1
63.5
13.0
27.2
16.8
90.7
10 Assam
22.3
54.5
3.3
1.3
19.7
55.8
11 Rajasthan
18.7
87.4
32.9
47.5
22.1
134.9
12 Tamil Nadu
22.8
76.5
22.2
69.1
22.5
145.6
13 West Bengal
28.6
173.2
14.8
35.1
24.7
208.3
14 Karnataka
20.8
75.0
32.6
63.8
25.0
138.9
15 All-India
28.3
2209.2
25.7
808.0
27.5
3017.2
16 Maharashtra
29.6
171.1
32.2
146.3
30.7
317.4
17 Uttar Pradesh
33.4
473.0
30.6
117.0
32.8
590.0
18 Madhya Pradesh
36.9
175.7
42.1
74.0
38.3
249.7
19 Uttarakhand
40.8
27.1
36.5
8.9
39.6
36.0
20 Jharkhand
46.3
103.2
20.2
13.2
40.3
116.4
21 Chattisgarh
40.8
71.5
41.2
19.5
40.9
91.0
22 Bihar
42.1
336.7
34.6
32.4
41.4
369.2
23 Orissa
46.8
151.8
44.3
26.7
46.4
178.5
 

Note: States have been arranged in the ascending order on the basis of combined poverty ratio in 2004-05. Poverty line: Rs 356.0 in rural areas and Rs 538.6 in urban areas (Per capita monthly expenditure).

Source: Planning Commission, Press Release, March 2007.

Five States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa accounted for 166 million poor (about 55 per cent of the total poor estimated at 302 million). This shows the high concentration of poor in these five States.

(14) Planning Commission: The Planning Commission in its report comparing the development status of economic infrastructure of Orissa, especially the KBK region, vis-à-vis the country says:

(See http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc)
 

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

 
 

 (15) What we are asking with respect to KBK and adivasi areas of Orissa?

 

We are asking the current PM and the current planning commission to pay attention to what the planning commission report says in (15) and the data in (11)-(14).

 

In particular, we would like the following lines to be completed during the 11th plan.

 

1)     Khurda – Balangir (This brings Railways to districts of Boudha, Sonepur and Nayagarh and bring Balangir – a part of KBK- closer to the state capital. This line of 290 km, initially budgeted at 700 crores, has all the necessary studies done, and its survey was complete before May 2004. It should be targeted to be completed within the next 2-3 years.)

2)     Gunupur-Theruvali (The Orissa govt. is ready to use PPP for this. This should also be done in 2-3 years together with the broad gauge conversion of Naupada-Gunupur line)

Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd in Andhra Pradesh. (The first phase of this Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh is 56 km with an estimated cost of 120 crores. 15% of it was completed before May 2004. This should be completed immediately within 1-2 years. This line lies completely within the KBK districts and when finished will bring Railways to the districts of Nabarangpur and Malkangiri. Moreover, the Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd part could go through a bit of Chhatisgrah. This line will create a shorter and alternative Ranchi-Hyderabad route and bring connectivity to an area that is currently havited by many extremist groups. Not much has been done beyond Junagarh, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11th plan.)

Talcher – Bimlagarh (This is 154 km long and was estimated at Rs 727 crore. This will bring the tribal district of Sundergarh much closer to Orissa, connect a dangling line, and will bring passenger rail to big parts of Sundergarh. This should be completed in 3-4 years.)

Bangiriposi-Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.

(These lines connect dangling lines and will bring passenger rail to big parts of the tribal district of Mayurbhanj. Not much has been done, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11th plan.)

Badampahar-Keonjhar (This line also  connecst dangling lines and will bring passenger rail to big parts of the tribal district of Mayurbhanj. Not much has been done, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11th plan.)

 
(16) Impact of just 1-3 in (16) above.
  1. Parlakhemundi, the district headquarter of Gajapati (part of KBK+) will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 305 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
  2. Sonepur, the district HQ of Sonepur district will be on connected by rail and will be 259 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
  3. Boudh, the district HQ of Boudha district will be connected by Rail and will be 217 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
  4. Nayagarha, the district HQ of Nayagarha district will be connected by Rail and will be 84 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
  5. Bhawanipatna, the district HQ of Kalahandi district (part of KBK) will be connected by Rail and will be 450 kms from Bhubaneswar via Balangir and 504 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital) via Gunupur.
  6. Malkangiri, the district HQ of Malkangiri district (part of KBK) will  be connected by Rail.
  7. Nabrangpur, the district HQ of Nabrangpur district (part of KBK) will be connected by Rail.
  8. Balangir, the district HQ of Balangir district will now be 309 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 397 kms.
  9. Nawapara Rd, near the district HQ of Nawapara district will now be 459 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 547 kms.
  10. Rayagada, the district HQ of Rayagada district will now be 419 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 502 kms.
  11. Koraput, the district HQ of Koraput district will now be 573 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 676 kms.
  12. Titlagarh, a major junction will now be 373 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 461 kms.
  13. There will be an alternate shorter path from Ranchi to Hyderabad via Titlagarh-Bhawanipatna-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd

(17) Is the Indian railway under the UPA government neglecting Orissa than the previous government?

 
Yes. Here is why?
 

(18) In the 2004 railway budget given at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869 (items 35,37) the then Railway Minister Nitish Kumar had proposed the Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana which aimed to complete lines like Khurda-Balangir within the next 5 years. This has been completely sidelined by the UPA government. This is what he said.

 

(18 A) Following is the exact wording, in items 35 and 37 of the 2004 Railway budget.

    * 35. Railways have a large shelf of over 230 projects worth about Rs. 43,000 cr, for construction of New Lines, Gauge Conversion, Doubling, Electrification and Metropolitan Transport Projects. Even with the enhanced budgetary support, non-budgetary initiatives under National Rail Vikas Yojana and other cost sharing mechanisms apart from Defence funding of some projects of strategic importance, there will still be projects valuing Rs. 20,000 cr which would remain unfinished even after the next five years. A large number of these have been sanctioned on socio economic considerations with the intention of connecting remote and backward areas with the rail network. However their progress is very slow on account of inadequate funding, which causes dissatisfaction. Connecting these areas with the rail network will facilitate the economic and social development of these areas and will provide major employment opportunities during construction and thereafter. Keeping these factors in mind, it has been decided to speed up the execution and completion of these projects also in the next five years. I am happy to inform the House that this would be done through an ambitious ‘Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana’, with an additional outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore.
    *

    * 37. This decision to accelerate the completion of all projects in five years is expected, on a broad estimate, to provide yearly employment to about 3 lakh persons during the construction period. Once opened for traffic, these lines would also require about 18000 persons per year for normal maintenance and operations, on incremental basis. Apart from this, it is expected that there will be scope for indirect employment of nearly 55000 persons per year. The ‘Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana’ will go a long way in changing the economic and social scenario of the remote and backward regions of the country and bringing the people of these areas into the mainstream. Further, the demand for steel, cement, rolling stock, fittings, components, plant and machinery will also be generated, boosting the economic growth of the entire country.

 

(18 B) World Bank:

 

http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/240060/India%20%20financing%20infrastructure%20-%20addressing%20constraints%20and%20challenges.pdf
June 2006 report (page 70 above Table A8)

The second project envisaged by the railways was announced in the interim Budget of 2004- 05 and is called Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana (RARSY). This involves executing and completing hitherto sanctioned projects related to connecting remote and backward areas with the rail network till 2010. The total investments in these projects is valued at Rs.200 billion. Presumably this is to be entirely funded by budget
support.

 

(18 C)   http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Railways/16th-Report.pdf
Railway Standing Committee Report 2005-06

Page 19:

To bridge this gap and considering the slow progress, projects especially in backward, underdeveloped and remote areas due to constraint of resources, Government had announced "Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana" (RARSY) in the Interim Budget 2004-05 which envisages investment of about Rs.20,000 crore in a period of 5 years on ongoing projects taken up on socio-economic considerations. However, the funds for the Yojana are yet to be tied up. Government in has attached priority to  infrastructure development. Keeping this commitment in view, a proposal has  been mooted for creation of Remote Area Rail Infrastructure Fund for financing the RARSY. If the Government approves the funding of this Yojana, all the ongoing projects will get completed in five years. The yojana is being processed in consultation with the Ministry of Finance for approval of the Government duly identifying the funding sources. A note in this regard is under process in the Ministry for consideration of Government.

3.10 Giving the details of the new initiatives to address the foregoing funds constraints, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-
"Over the last few years, certain initiatives have been taken to see how we will fund over projects so that the pace of adding new lines, gauge conversion and doubling speeds up. We have introduced funding through defence for strategic lines. We have got some of the projects declared as the national projects where the funding is given directly by the Government. We have also initiated private participation in some cases, we have also
launched the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited which is generating funds through various sources including the market borrowing. Our need was to generate about Rs.47,000 crore to take care of the projects on the shelf. Out of this, we found that we can generate about Rs.12,500 crore or so out of the normal Budgetary support as per the past trends. We would be generating about Rs.18,000 crore due to the new initiatives that have been taken in the past few years. It still leaves us a gap of about Rs.17,000 crore to take care of
the projects which are by and large non-remunerative projects but they are on the shelf. These are the projects which are connecting distant areas, backward areas. They were sanctioned on socio-economic considerations and so many other considerations. Even for the sum of Rs.17,000 crore, which is our requirement, in the year 2004, in the Interim Budget, a scheme of Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana was introduced. We are yet to finsalise the funding pattern under this scheme. The effort is to involve the State Government’s participation into this scheme as also through other means.
We are yet to give it a final shape."

3.11 In response to the concern of the Committee as to why the completion targets of the projects are not being fixed, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-


"most of these projects will not be completed in the next few years. In fact, the projects where target has not been given is because normally we give targets for projects which are going to be over in the next two to three years.  But where it is going to be a distant period and where we do not know as to how much funds would be allocated for these projects, we do not give targets for those projects. So, wherever targets are given these are the projects which will take more than two to three years to get completed depending on how much funds are given. On our part, we have tried to revive the CapitalFund to see that we can put in more money.

Page 22: Talks about National Projects

3.12 In the absence of adequate internal generation of revenues by the Railways,
the following projects has been declared by the Government as the national Projects in the National interest. The funding for these projects are ensured by the Central Exchequer in the form of additional Budgetary Support to the Railways.

 

(18 D) Summing up this point:

 

In summary, based on earlier planning commission report as excerpted in (14) the 2004 Rail budget had the scheme RARSY which would have completed KBK connectivity lines like Khurda-Blangir. But the UPA government has buried that plan and has talked about burdening the state government for these lines, which since they can not afford, basically means abandoning these lines. This approach needs to be reversed and while India and Indian Railway marches ahead it must not forget the backward and adivasi areas of India and Orissa; especially when it makes money from transporting freight (minerals) from these areas.

 
(19) What are we asking overall?
 

We want Indian government, currently ruled by UPA, and Indian Railways under the UPA government to be fair to Orissa and ECOR. We want SER to be fair to the parts of Orissa that is covered by SER. We now describe what these entails.

 

(19.1) Since Indian Railways has submitted a proposal of 251,000 crores for the 11th Five year plan. We ask that based on ECOR’s 7% revenue and almost 10% profits at least 7% of the budget which is 0.07 X 251,000 =    17,570 crores must be spent in ECOR.

 

Similarly, the appropriate amount to be spent in SER must be calculated, and Orissa must get its fair share for the SER part of Indian Railways that passes through Orissa. This must be calculated transparently as SER often neglects Orissa.

 

(19.2) The above should easily cover the lines that connect KBK and adivasi areas of Orissa. We earlier mentioned this in (16), but let us repeat it for emphasis. (THIS IS OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY.)

 

1)     Khurda – Balangir 

2)     Gunupur-Theruvali

3)     Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)

4)     Talcher – Bimlagarh

5)     Bangiriposi -Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.

6)     Badampahar-Keonjhar

 

(19.3) Port, Industry and Mine connectivity: For these Orissa government can find supporting resources and plans to share the cost via PPP vehicles.

 

1)     Bhadrakh-Dhamara port

2)     Connectivity to Gopalpur Port

3)     Haridaspur-Paradip port

4)     Talcher-Sukinda (mines)

 

(19.4) Commuter rail around Bhubaneswar and appropriate facilities for the commuters

 

The Bhubaneswar area commuter railway consisting of the following segments need to be operationalized with MEMUs and appropriate stations in the Bhubaneswar area to help the commuters without creating jams.

 

Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd – Puri – Vedanta U – Konark (Past Puri would be new)

Bhubaneswar – Barang – Naraj-Dhenkanal (exists)

Bhubaneswar-KhurdaRd – Khurda-Nayagarh (part of Khurda-Balangir)

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Paradeep (exists)

Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd – Balugaon-Berhampur (exists)

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Jajpur Rd-Bhadrakh (exists)

Bhubaneswar-Naraj-Salagaon (exists)

Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd – Khurda-Naraj (Khurda-Naraj will be new and make it a loop)

 

(19.5) While the above are finished during the 11th plan, we will patiently wait for the 12th plan

  • for the 2nd phase of freight corridor involving Howrah-Chennai that will pass through Orissa;
  • for high speed rail between Howrah-Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam-Chennai;
  • for a metro rail for greater Bhubaneswar; and
  • additional lines such as Jaleshwar-Digha, Berhampur-Phulbani, Bargarh-Nawapara Road and Talcher-Berhampur.
 
 

 

Not much land available in Paradip: Industries eye Kendrapada district and Ersama

INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada Comments Off on Not much land available in Paradip: Industries eye Kendrapada district and Ersama

Following is Samaja’s report on this.
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What korean newspapers say about POSCO and Orissa/India

Coal, Iron Ore, Jagatsinghpur, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, Ports and waterways, POSCO, Steel Comments Off on What korean newspapers say about POSCO and Orissa/India

Following are excerpts from a report in english.chosun.com.

… After a rough start, POSCO is expected to finally have a site allocated for a planned steel mill in India, while an investment in a new Vietnam steel mill is likely to move ahead in October.

According to POSCO on Wednesday, the Indian government recently made it known that they plan to determine whether to give environmental clearance for the 4,004 acre site in Paradip in the province of Orissa.

Some 3,566 acres or 89.1 percent of the site of the planned one-stop steel system belongs to the government. Of that, 3,097 acres (86.9 percent) is forest land. For now, POSCO has only secured 193 acres (4.8 percent).

A POSCO official said, "The final decision has not yet been made, but we heard that the site might be released from the forest zone soon. The state-owned land accounts for nearly 90 percent of our site. In other words, if the area is released from the forest zone, the biggest obstacle to our effort to secure the site disappears."

Kendrapada district would like industries (steel plants) and hopes on the Barunei port development

INVESTMENTS and INVESTMENT PLANS, Kendrapada, Ports and waterways, Steel Comments Off on Kendrapada district would like industries (steel plants) and hopes on the Barunei port development

Following is Samaja’s report on this.

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Orissa’s effort to increase employment in textile sector

Ganjam, Textiles Comments Off on Orissa’s effort to increase employment in textile sector

Following are excerpts from a UNI report in NewKerala.

Employment opportunities for 10,000 youths in the textile sector would be created annually in Orissa through training, … The training would be imparted jointly by the state government and the Karrur Textile Manufacturer Association of Tamil Nadu through the Employment Mission, …

The decision was taken after the representatives of Handloom Export Promotion Council, Madurai Textile Exporter Association, Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Madurai and Karrur Textile Manufacturer Association held discussion with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

A pilot project for the training will be launched in Ganjam district.

The youths, who completed the training, would be given employment in various textile centres of Madurai, the sources

Wrong actions of industries in Kalinganagar adds to people’s suspicion of Industrial houses

Jajpur, Jajpur Rd- Vyasanagar- Duburi- Kalinganagar, Kalinganagar - Kamkhya Nagar - Talcher, Metals and alloys, Steel, Tatas Comments Off on Wrong actions of industries in Kalinganagar adds to people’s suspicion of Industrial houses

The following article from Samaja explains why people in Orissa (and India) do not believe companies’ promises. If what the article says is true it is shameful on the part of Tatas to behave that way. 20070820a_004101003.jpg

POSCO Chairman says that they will start construction in October

Jagatsinghpur, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, Ports and waterways, POSCO, Steel Comments Off on POSCO Chairman says that they will start construction in October

Following are some excerpts from a PTI report in Economic Times.

Setting at rest speculation on the fate of its Rs 52,000 crore steel project, South Korean giant Posco has decided to begin construction work on the 12 million tonne plant in Orissa by October.

“We will begin construction work of our 12 MT project in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district by October on whatever land we have acquired so far,” Posco India Chairman and Managing Director Soung Sik Cho said. …

“We believe things have undergone a sea-change during the last few months. People are clearly convinced that they will benefit from the project. Now they have a better understanding of the entire situation,” he reasoned.

Posco was also enthused after the union government gave environmental approval to the project. Moreover, the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa has been asked by the Centre to take the mega investment process forward.

“Actually things are now looking much brighter. We have also received the official nod for our captive port project at Jatadhari, which has also encouraged us,” Cho pointed out.

The Korean steel giant has decided to begin construction work initially on 400 acres of non-forest land, and then on the revenue land to be given to it by the Orissa government.

“Now the only issue remains to be resolved is granting captive iron ore mines to us. But here also I believe things are moving in the right direction,” Cho said.

Jindal places order with Siemens

Jajpur, Jajpur Rd- Vyasanagar- Duburi- Kalinganagar, Kalinganagar - Tarini - Keonjhar, Steel Comments Off on Jindal places order with Siemens

Following are excerpts from an Economic Times report.

Siemens Ltd on Friday said it has bagged an order from Jindal Stainless (JSL) to carry out installation related work for latter’s greenfield plant in Orissa.

The company has bagged the order along with Siemens VAI, a division of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), Siemens Ltd said in a communique to the BSE. However, it did not divulge any financial details.

“It (the order) was bagged on the basis of our ability to come up with a fully integrated solution and our track record in executing project in the metals sector,” Siemens Ltd Executive Vice-President (Industrial Services and Solutions Division) N Sivasubramanian said.

As per the contract, Siemens would undertake plant layout for the hot-strip mill and equip it with latest tools. Production is scheduled to start in 2009.

JSL already has an operating plant at Hisar in Haryana and the new plant would be set up at Kainganagar Durubi Duburi in Orissa as part of its expansion plans.

Siemens would also provide customer training, monitor installation of all the components and systems as well as commission the installation, including fine adjustment of the technological models and control systems. The plant would be designed to produce 1.6 million tons of stainless steel strips in the first phase, Siemens added.

Visa Steel and Bao Steel sign agreement for a ferro chrome plant

Ferro-chrome, Jajpur, Jajpur Rd- Vyasanagar- Duburi- Kalinganagar, Kalinganagar corridors 1 Comment »

The plan for this was mentioned earlier. Following are excerpts from an Economic Times report.

Visa Steel on Friday inked a joint venture agreement with China’s Baosteel Trading and VISA Comtrade of Switzerland for setting up a 1 lakh tonne-per-annum ferro chrome plant in Orissa at a capital outlay of Rs 260 crore.

The JV company, VISA BAO, will be a subsidiary of VISA Steel which will hold a 51% stake. Baosteel Trading and VISA Comtrade will hold 35% and 14% stakes, respectively.  …

Orissa government’s Independence day ad (from Samaja) on its progress

INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE Comments Off on Orissa government’s Independence day ad (from Samaja) on its progress

20070815a_013101001orissagrowth.jpg

Reports on CM’s speech on the independence day

AGRICULTURE & FARMING, BGY, Infosys, IT, IT, Back office, BPO, Satyam, TCS, WIPRO Comments Off on Reports on CM’s speech on the independence day

Following are excerpts from the Kalinga Times report.

… The Chief Minister said his government was focussing on growth of agriculture, irrigation, infrastructure development, rural roads, drinking water, and growth in the IT sector, education and healthcare. Improvement in the people’s quality of life was the main objective of his government, Patnaik observed.He said that a special package, comprising a series of schemes, had been finalised by the State government for ensuring development of agriculture.

While a target had been fixed to bring 35 per cent of cultivable area in all the 314 blocks under irrigation cover, contract farming had been introduced in several areas for the benefit of the farmers, Patnaik said.

Stating that rural development was also a priority area for his government, Patnaik said efforts were on to improve rural road connectivity and ensure availability of safe drinking water in villages. The Jaldhara scheme was being implemented to provide piped water facility to 1000 villages in the first phase.

The government had also launched new schemes such as the Biju KBK Yojana, Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana and Biju Gramjyoti Yojana for rural development.

Mentioning about the excellent performance of tribal schools in this year’s High School Certificate examination, Patnaik said that priority was being accorded to education of tribal children. A total of 1000 hostels for tribal girls were being established in the State, he added.

As regards growth in the information technology sector, the Chief Minister said Bhubaneswar was fast growing as a major IT hub in the country. Companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Genpact and Satyam had already started their operation and very soon many companies were going to begin BPO business, he said.

The State’s software export was likely to cross Rs 700 crore during the current financial year, the Chief Minister said.

Patnaik said the government was also taking measures for proper utilisation of the rich mineral resources for the development of the State and its people. A total of 25 steel industries had already started production, he added. …

Lok Sabha written reply on rehabilitation of land oustees by NALCO

Anugul- Talcher - Saranga- Nalconagar, NALCO, R & R Comments Off on Lok Sabha written reply on rehabilitation of land oustees by NALCO

Following is from this PIB release.

The total number of land oustees for National Aluminium Company Limited(NALCO)’s Mines & Refinery Complex, Damanjodi is 600 and for its Smelter & Power Complex, Angul is 35. As a part of rehabilitation policy, NALCO at its initial stage, had formulated a policy for providing employment to one able bodied member of each oustee family subject to suitability of candidate and availability of vacancy. Out of 600 land oustees at Damanjodi, one member each from 591 land oustees has been provided employment and out of 35 at Angul, 34 have been given employment in the Company.

NALCO has intimated that the Company stands committed to provide employment to at least one member of each land oustee family. However, the Company has not been able to provide employment in respect of the remaining oustees as on date due to reasons like non-determination of bonafide nominees, lack of response from the families, etc.

Above information was given by the Minister of State for Mines Dr. T. Subbarami Reddy in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

RSB Transmission’s plan near Cuttack

Auto, Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack- Kalinganagar, Cuttack 49 Comments »

Following are excerpts from an Economics Times report.

…  he RSB Group already has a technology agreement with Gunther Albert GmbH of Germany for trailer designs and a strategic alliance with Germany-based BPW Axle for axle technology with anti-breaking system, disc brake, etc.

RSB Transmission would invest Rs 430 crore in the next four years to set up a major auto component manufacturing plant near Cuttack in Orissa, Behra said adding Orissa Chief Ministger Navin Patnaik would lay the foundation stone of the casting and forging plant on August 30.

“Orissa government has assured us to provide 270 acres of land while we have acquired 90 acres land,” he said.

Orissa asks Arcelor Mittal to re-assess land requirement

INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE, Keonjhar, Metals and alloys, Steel Comments Off on Orissa asks Arcelor Mittal to re-assess land requirement

Times of India mentioned that 

Orissa government has asked the Arcelor-Mittal group to reassess the land requirement for its proposed greenfield steel project in Keonjhar district.

A similar report was also published in Business Standard saying that

Worried over the resistance of the people to land acquisition and allegations of land grabbing by industrial houses in the name of setting up industries, the Orissa government intends to make realistic assessment of the land requirement of various industries interested in setting up manufacturing facilities in the state. In the process, the government has decided to take a re-look at Arcelor-Mittal’s land requirement for its proposed 12 million-tonne-per-annum steel plant in Keonjhar district’s Patna Tehsil. This follows a presentation by the company to the state industry department officials on the project.

The company has sought 8,000 acres for the project, which includes land for construction of a 750MW captive power plant and a civil township. However, all indications are that only a ‘reasonable’ piece of land will be given to the company.

POSCO making slow headway through its R & R efforts.

Jagatsinghpur, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, POSCO, R & R Comments Off on POSCO making slow headway through its R & R efforts.

Following are excerpts from a Sambada report.2007-08-12-sambada-posco.JPG

Industrialization of Orissa: benefits to Orissa, more benefits to other states

INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE, Ports and waterways, Railways, Roads, highways and Bus stands, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION Comments Off on Industrialization of Orissa: benefits to Orissa, more benefits to other states

Samaja has the following beautiful analysis which enumerates how because Orissa does not have the industries whose products will be used in making the new industrial plants in Orissa, Orissa loses out on lots of additional benefits that go to the already industrialized states. Hence, Orissa not only needs to set up these plants quickly, but also needs to go after the ancillaries with full force.
20070812a_006101003analysis.jpg

Severeal IT townships possibly with IITs and IIMs are in the offing

INVESTMENTS and INVESTMENT PLANS, IT, PPP, REAL ESTATE, Satellite and Residential townships, SEZs, STPs Comments Off on Severeal IT townships possibly with IITs and IIMs are in the offing

Economics Times reports on such an effort. I hope Orissa government is aware of this and is making pitches for one of the locations in Orissa. Following are excerpts from the Economic Times report.

THE government is planning to build 6-7 new IT townships, called knowledge townships, close to major urban centres and international airports. The residential townships will be based on the walk-to-work concept. This means the professionals working there will be encouraged to live close to the workplace.

The companies setting up units in the townships may be extended tax sops under either the software technology park (STP) or special economic zone (SEZ) scheme. Each township would have a minimum 10-hectare (1 hectare = 2.471 acres) built-up area to make it compliant with FDI rules relating to investment in real estate. Each township is likely to entail an investment of Rs 500-650 crore, depending on the area.

A committee comprising members from the PMO, ministry of IT & telecom, urban development, civil aviation, Dipp along with Nasscom has identified several areas for setting up the knowledge hubs.

Sources in the committee said that these proposed townships will be extension of satellite towns like Gurgaon (to be called Gurgaon Plus). Similarly the township near Mohali will be called Mohali Plus. The first of these new townships is expected to come up by 2012 and the rest by 2015.

… services like IT and BPO will be encouraged in these units.

Many domestic and foreign real estate players have expressed interest in owning land and build such townships.

“We want each township to be FDI compliant so that they can attract foreign expertise,” a senior DIPP official said. Every township would be a special purpose vehicle where states and developers would have stakes.

Urban development secretary M Ramachandran said that his ministry would advise the committee on facilities like water, electricity, drainage and other civic facilities. “We will also help in developing the structures,” he said.

“The townships may also have an IIT/IIM or such academic institutions to build an ecosystem. For tax sops, we are pushing for extension of STP scheme else the companies can also opt for SEZ status,” said Nasscom president Kiran Karnik. The townships will come complete with educational, recreational/amusement and healthcare infrastructure.

“The basic reason for proposing such townships is the existing saturation in real estate and infrastructure amongst existing IT hubs,” Mr Karnik added.

Gurgaon real estate rentals have shot up meteorically in the recent past while Bangalore doesn’t have any real estate. …

Currently, Mohali, Mysore, Noida and Gurgaon have come up as satellite townships to major state capitals, most of which have international airports.

… SEZs offer a five-year 100% tax exemption with two subsequent five-year exemptions of 70% and 50% to units.

Dept. of IT GOI plans its eastern region data center in Bhubaneswar

Data Center, WIRED & Wireless ODISHA Comments Off on Dept. of IT GOI plans its eastern region data center in Bhubaneswar

A Business standard-Rediff article mentions this. Following are some excerpts.

The government of India is working on a structured Business Continuity Planning model to ensure that critical services like the functioning of government websites and servers go on unhindered even when disasters — man-made or natural.

The model has been devised to recover and restore partially or completely interrupted critical function(s) within a given time period after a disaster or disruption. The government hopes to have this implemented in a year.

Thursday’s flooding of the National Informatics Centre rendered most of the Indian government websites with the domain address ‘nic.in’ — including the Prime Minister’s and President’s websites — inaccessible till about 6 pm.

However, there was no reported data loss because of there being a backup tapes mechanism and its storage area network in the NIC’s Delhi unit. …

Besides Delhi, the NIC has data centres in Pune and Hyderabad, meant to house mainly Central government data.

The department of information technology intends to set up another data centre in Bhubaneswar to serve the eastern region.

These data centres are connected by high-speed networks to support data/application back-up security.

WIPRO in Orissa: 2nd center in Infocity II; global training center; 15,000 employees in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, WIPRO 5 Comments »

Following is Pioneer’s short report on this.

Wipro will give employment to 15,000 in its Bhubanewar centre. In this connection, CIO of Wipro met the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat.

Wipro also agreed to set up a Global Training Centre here. Wipro will set up its second campus in Infocity II.

New Indian Express has a slightly more elaborate report. Following are excerpts from that.

… Wipro has decided to open a global training centre in Orissa.

The issue was discussed at a meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Laxman Badiga …

Badiga informed that about 15,000 IT specialists would be recruited in the development centre of Wipro to be set up here.

Besides, the company would also open its second campus in Infocity II near Janla.

Smart city concept of Infocity II was also discussed. Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Bijay Kumar Patnaik, Secretary in the Information and Technology Department Surendranath Tripathy, Director, Information and Technology Vishal Dev, Chief Technology Officer of Wipro Rajesh Ram Mishra and Bhubaneswar chief of Wipro Surjya Mohanty also attended.

Telegraph’s report on this has some more information. Following are some excerpts.

Information and technology giant Wipro will soon set up the state’s biggest software development centre, where 15,000 IT engineers would be employed.

Chief information officer of Wipro … said the company would open a global training centre, too, in Orissa.

… The proposed hub, to be constructed on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive, would have facilities to train about 3,000 persons, said the state’s information and technology director Vishal Dev.

Wipro, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, had signed a MoU with the state government in 2004 to set up its software development centre with a proposed investment of about Rs 200 crore. It was allotted 27 acres of land in Infocity, opposite to the Infosys centre. The construction work has begun and the work is expected to be complete by 2008.

Wipro is among the four major IT firms for whom a 130-acre special economic zone is being carved out of the 350-acre Infocity-I. The other three companies are Hexaware, MindTree and TCS.

Significantly, Orissa has witnessed a spurt in its export earnings from the information technology sector in 2006-07. In 2005-06, the earnings were Rs 465 crore but it shot up to Rs 732 crore in the next fiscal.