___________

Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies/tatas-hire-singapore-firm-sez-273.

Tata Realty & Infrastr-ucture (TRIL), Tata Group’s real estate and infrastructure development arm, has hired Singapore-based Jurong International as the master planner for its special economic zone (SEZ) project in Gopalpur (Orissa).

“We have shortlisted Jurong for this important project,” said a Tata group official. Jurong offers design and build, consultancy, construction, and facilities management services and its India office is located in Hyderabad.
The multi-product SEZ, with all infrastructure facilities and required amenities, will cost the group nearly $ 1billion.
So far, Jurong has done master plans for 380,000 hectares, 10 million square meters of industrial land and 5.8 million square meters of residential space.

The SEZ in Gopalpur will focus on minerals, mining and associated industries. At present, Tata Steel possesses the land slotted for SEZ. In 1995, Tata Steel acquired the land for Rs 150 crore to set up a 2.5 million tonne per annum port-based steel plant in Orissa and spent. This plan had to be abandoned due to lack of amenities such as adequate water and iron ore linkages at the site. Now, Tata Steel is putting up a multi-million tonnes per annum steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa.

We plan to focus on industries that are downstream value-added in the metals and minerals space and allied industries such as gem and jewellery for the SEZ, which is planned to come up in 2,900 acres. The land is already in our possession and the necessary approvals are in place. So we expect that this development will not face any land acquisition related problems,” a TRIL official told Financial Chro-nicle.
“The positioning of the SEZ has been made keeping in mind the advantages of the local area and infrastructure such as a functioning port that’s capable of deep draught, an air strip and railway slidings that could be utilised by the industrial units in the zone,” added the official.

I hope this is for real and not because TATAs are due for some mining lease renewal. They have been accused of using such strategy with Orissa during mining lease renewal times.

Following is from Samaja:

Following is from a report in Economic Times:

Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilizer, Srikant Jena on Sunday said the fertilizer plant at Talcher, 126 km from here would be revived with an investment

of Rs 12,000 crore. It provided direct and indirect employment to 30000 people in the area.

“The government will appoint consultants to suggest the modalities to raise finance, identify appropriate technology to revive the closed fertiliser unit at Talcher”, Mr Jena told ET.

The union government already had decided to revive Talcher plant. In fact, last October the Cabinet had set up an Empowered Committee of Secretaries under the chairmanship of Fertiliser Secretary Atul Chaturvedi to come up with possible financial models for the revival of the closed plants at Talcher, Barauni, Haldia, Ramagundam, Durgapur, Gorakhpur, Korba and Sindri.

The Talcher plant had liabilities of over Rs 4000 crore and assets worth of Rs 225 crore. “The liabilities comprise of mostly loans from the government of India and interest on loans. This can be waived once all the modalities of revival are worked out. We propose to expand its capacity to 12 million ton per annum [TPA].

Commercial production of Ammonia and Urea at the Talcher unit commenced in November 1980. Urea and Ammonia plants have been designed with a capacity to produce 4.95 lakh and 2.97 lakh tpa respectively.

However production of Urea and Ammonia was first suspended from April 1, 1999 due to its economic non-viability. In 2002, it came to grinding halt after the NDA government decided to close the unit following BIFR sanction.

Last year, the union government decided to renew Talcher unit and consulted with the companies like the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers and National Fertilisers. It even decided to put in an investment of Rs 5,000 crore in the project in view of the ambitious target of production of 40 million tpa of urea by 2012.

… RCF is the only profit making public sector fertilizer company which has evinced interest to take over Talcher and Durgapur (West Bengal) Fertilizer plant for revival. In fact, the feasibility report on Talcher had already been submitted to RCF.

The revival plan included proposal to convert Talcher plant from a coal based urea plant to a gas-based urea unit with capacity to produce 2000 ton of ammonia per day. There is no problem of water in Talcher, non-availabilty of gas remains the biggest hurdle in the way of reviving the plant. There is no source of gas nearby.

The proposed gas pipe line to be laid by Reliance Industries carrying gas from Krishna-Godavari basin to West Bengal via Bhadrak in Orissa could be the solution, sources said. However, the ministry will take a final view after the consultants submit detailed report on the financial model and technological options available for the revival of the Talcher unit.

Following is from a report in Pioneer:

Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Jena has to push a few major projects for Orissa, feel industry watchers. One of the largest projects waiting for clearance is the Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) project at Paradip.

The State Government has proposed a PCPIR expecting an investment of Rs 2.75 lakh crore.

While PCPIRs have been approved for Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, the fate of Orissa’s proposal for it is still hanging. The PCPIR policy, notified in April 2007, seeks to ensure adoption of a holistic approach to the development of global scale industrial clusters in the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical sectors in an integrated and environment-friendly manner.

The Government of Orissa has taken the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) as the anchor investor. The IOCL is investing nearly Rs 30,000 crore for a greenfield refinery project at Paradip. The PCPIR proposal is, however, gathering dust in the files of the Ministry. So, it is high time Jena pushed the project to the Union Cabinet for approval by convincing the Cabinet-rank Minister MK Ajhagiri.

With this single clearance, Paradip will be in a position to attract huge investments in the petroleum, petrochemicals, fertilisers and other related areas. Similarly, Jena can push for the establishment of a NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) in Orissa.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

As regards Orissa projects, where 80% of the employees are from the state, we have resolved not to go for any layoff. In fact, we are appointing more and more people in our projects here,” Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal told reporters here on Saturday on the sidelines of his first meeting with Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik after the latter swept the just concluded polls.

Mr Agarwal claimed that Vedanta had already invested Rs 25,000 crore of its promised Rs 50,000 crore investment in the state. “The rest will be spent in the next two years”, he assured.

Meanwhile, the VAL had secured Stage I clearance for mining of bauxite in Niyamgiri hills to feed its Lanjigarh project. …

Mr Agarwal also stated that Vedanta had got coal block for its Jharsuguda smelter project and it will soon start coal mining. To a query on the University project, Mr Agarwal said: “We are going to start our university project very soon.”

Mr Agarwal hoped that the state government would soon pass the Vedanta University Bill in the Assembly. “We have already submitted all papers to the state government required for passing of the Vedanta University Bill. I hope it will be passed in the House shortly,” he added.

He informed that Anil Agarwal Foundation – which is setting up a world class university at Puri that includes a 1000-bed hospital – will have its extended centre in Bhubaneswar. “During the meeting, the CM was contemplating if we have can have an extended centre of our hospital project in Bhubaneswar to set up a trauma centre for burn and coma patients. We have in fact agreed for it,” he said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to inaugurate the second unit of state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) in Tiruchirapalli by the end of this month, a top company official said here today.

"The Rs 750 crore plant is ready and we are waiting for dates from the Prime Minister’s Office to confirm his visit to Tiruchirapalli to inaugurate the plant," BHEL Tiruchirapalli complex Executive Director V Ananthakrishnan told reporters here.     

"Already we are recruiting 1,000 candidates per year and this year too we will recruit another 1000," he said, adding they would continue to recruit candidates at the same pace over the next three years.      

Orissa should make efforts to have similar non-metal processing and non-thermal power related public sector units in Orissa.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) headed by the chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy today cleared five projects worth Rs 2807.7 crore.

…out of the 12 proposals considered by SLSWCA, the proposal of Bhubneswar Power Private Ltd for setting up of a 2X67.5 Mw CPP was deferred. The energy department has been asked to consider the proposal from the policy point of view.

Two major investment proposals by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) and Hindalco Industries were partially approved in today’s meeting due to non-availability of bauxite and pending the environmental carrying capacity study by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board.

VAL had proposed to expand the capacity of its refinery at Lanjigarh from one million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 6 MTPA and the smelter plant capacity from 0.25 MTPA to 1.6 MTPA. Besides, the capacity of the CPP was proposed to be raised from 674 Mw to 1350 Mw with a combined investment of Rs 37,440 crore.

The company had signed MoU with the Orissa government for the present capacity at an investment of Rs 12,400 crore. However, SLSWCA only recommended for a smelter capacity of 0.5 MTPA as the company had already achieved this level. It also approved the capacity expansion of the CPP to 1350 Mw as sought by the company. The additional smelting capacity will be considered only after ascertaining the availability of bauxite and receipt of the OSPCB study on environment. Similarly, Hindalco Industries Ltd (Aditya Aluminium) had proposed to expand its alumina refinery capacity to 1.5 MTPA from 1 MTPA at present.

Along with this, the company also sought expansion of its smelting capacity to 0.72 MTPA from 0.26 MTPA and increase in the CPP capacity to 1650Mw from 650 Mw.

SLSWCA has decided to recommend a marginal increase in the smelting capacity from 0.26 MTPA to 0.36 MTPA and CPP capacity from 650 Mw to 950 Mw to the HLCA.

It also put conditional approval to the proposal of the Tata Sponge Iron Ltd. to set up a 1.5 MTPA steel making capacity along with a 52 Mw CPP at an investment of Rs 3101 crore. While the existing sponge capacity of the company is 0.39 MTPA, it had sought to expand its capacity by 0.45 MTPA to 0.84 MTPA.

Similarly, the company proposed to set up one MTPA blast furnace and 1.6 MTPA pellet plant in a separate location in Keonjhar district. It will have to increase the steel making capacity first and after that the increase in the sponge making capacity will be allowed.

The other projects which were approved include 4 MTPA iron ore beneficiation plant at an investment of Rs 360.85 crore to be set up by Kolkata based Rashmi Metaliks at Nayagarh in Keonjhar district.

Similarly, the Rs 624.7 crore investment proposal of Rungta mines, Shyam Steel Industries proposal for setting up 2 MTPA iron ore pelletisation plant were cleared by the SLSWCA. Besides, the Toshali Cement’s proposal to expand its capacity to 2100 tonne per day from 600 tonne per day along with 3.96 lakh tonne per annum grinding unit at Choudwar was also approved.

The proposal of Orissa Thermal Power Corporation, a joint venture between Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) and Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to set up 2000 MW power plant at Rengali at an investment of Rs 8250 crore also received the nod of the committee.

Jindal India Thermal Power’s proposal to increase the capacity from 1200 Mw to 1800 mw and Lanco Bhawan Power’s proposal to increase its capacity to 2640 Mw from 1230 Mw were approved for recommendation to the HLCA on the basis of strong recommendation of the energy department.

In another significant decision, SLSWCA decided not to allow any more cement plant in the state except Malkangiri district as the state does not have sufficient amount of limestone.

Following is from a report in Hindu.

Indian Oil Corporation has tied up finances for its Rs 29,777 crore Paradip refinery project in Orissa that would be commissioned by March 2012.

"We have received commitments from a consortia of banks," IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria said.

SBI Caps, which was mandated to arrange Rs 14,700 crore debt for the project, has managed Rs 14,900 crore from 21 banks. State Bank of India (SBI) will be the largest lender with Rs 4,200 crore exposure.

IOC was likely to sign loan agreements with the consortia of banks on May 14.

"We will draw (from these loans) as and when we need them," he said but did not give details.

IOC is targeting commissioning of the refinery in first quarter of 2012. The board had recently split the refinery cum petrochemical complex into two, deciding to do the refinery first and the chemical unit will follow later.

Paradip refinery is being configured to process the toughest, heaviest and the most dirtiest crudes which are cheaper than the cleaner and easier varieties. The refinery will have a Nelson Complexity Index of 15.

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

Kamat Hotels India Ltd (KHIL) is in the process of developing 600 additional rooms under ‘The Orchid’ brand across India. Presently, properties are under development in Nagpur, Coimbatore, Raipur and Konark. Upcoming properties will be set up at greenfield locations and will be entirely managed and operated under the KHIL banner.

“The Orchid brand will continue to grow through tier I and II locations across India. For KHIL’s premium brand, we plan to tap emerging markets for potential locations,” says Vishal Kamat, Director, KHIL to Hospitality Biz. KHIL will develop a 30 room all-suite hotel in Konark, Orissa and a 100 room hotel in Nagpur. The Coimbatore and Raipur properties are expected to come up with about 200 and 120 rooms, respectively. “KHIL has always positioned The Orchid as a business hotel and we are keen that we develop and manage hotels under this brand to maintain its exclusivity in the market. Unlike Concept Hospitality Ltd (CHL), which presently manages a few Orchid hotels in New Delhi, Kollam and Jalandhar, KHIL will not operate simply as a hotel management entity in the market,” clarifies Kamat.

Following is from a report in Hospitality Biz India.

The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED) is likely to set up three food processing centres (FPCs) in Orissa to provide infrastructural facilities for farmers to directly process their products. These FPCs are expected to be developed in PPP mode.

While, the required infrastructure will be created by the Orissa government, the day to day operations, including the centres’ maintenance will be managed by a private agency. Currently, the details of the FPCs are being worked out by the IED and the proposal will be sent to the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries for assistance after the plan is finalised.

The state government has identified three locations, namely Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Phulbani, for setting up of these Centres. However, a final decision regarding the locations for these FPCs is yet to be taken.

It is my impression that the opposition parties in Orissa over the years have focused more on finding fault with Government schemes and actions and often agitated to stop them completely. Although opposition should find fault with government actions, their approach of doing it indiscriminately, focusing on stopping the action altogether and only doing that, is a flawed approach and it has not only hampered the development of Orissa but has hampered the opposition parties themselves, especially when they are pitted against Naveen Patniak’s government.

Their appraoch would work if the government is seen by people to be corrupt and if other developments were not happening. However, that is not the case with Naveen Patnaik’s government. Naveen has distanced himself from corruption taints by taking swift action in removing his ministers and officers accused of corruption. So he and his government are not seen by the people as a corrupt government. Also there is no visible accumulation of wealth by Naveen Patnaik and neither does he have relatives dependent on him or relatives that he is trying to groom. So most people see that he does not have a reason to be corrupt. (Contesting in elections does require money. But most people  often do not question where that money comes from. Moreover, every party needs that money and spends that money. ) On the other hand they do see progress happening around, be it NREGS, or gram-sadaks or establishment of IIT. They also see Naveen Patnaik frequently dueling with the central government on getting more resources for Orisssa.

The opposition’s approach of fighting such a government by opposiing development programs indisciminately, and demanding that they be stopped, does not help them – may actually harm them, and also harms Orissa. It may harm them because because many people see them has blocking Orissa’s progress.

The opposition party should change their strategy and beat Naveen at his own game.

They should change their premise that Naveen is doing wrong things that need to be stopped to:

• In addition to what Naveen is doing, he must do XYZ to protect interests of UVW people,
• Naveen is not doing enough good things, and
• Naveen is missing opportunities.

They should take the development mantra down to towns districts and blocks.

They should agitate and ask the state government to do XYZ in UVW district. They should compare regions/towns/districts/blocks across Orissa and agitate that XYZ region/town/district/block does not have UVW or is being discriminated against PQR. Now when they succeed in convincing or forcing the government to take action many people will give them the credit; the same way Naveen Patnaik’s government gets credit for getting IIT and NISER to Orissa even though they were central government decisions and PM Manmohan Snigh paid personal attention to this. Alternatively, if the state government does not give in to their demand they can make that their election plank.

Let us take some specific examples.

People in Balasore have been demanding a medical college. A smart opposition could have made a big issue out of it. If it had succeeded after some agitation then the people would have remembered that when casting their vote.

Similarly, the Rourkela area, the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa, does not have a general university. In fact, I would go out on a limb and say that it is the largest metropolitan area in the country to not have a general university where one can puruse graduate (Masters and PhD) degrees in fields like Economics, Psychology, Physics, Business, etc. A smart opposition party could have taken advantage of that and created a movement in Rourkela for that and would have benefited by that. 

A smart opposition should have taken up the issue of the Central University of Orissa in Koraput starting in Bhubaneswar instead of in Koraput.

These are some glaring examples. Every region, every block, every district, every town needs development related things that the state government may have neglected. A smart opposition advocating those needs would get the attention of people there.

Such a strategy is a win-win and no-loss strategy. No one locally will oppose the demand of a medical college or a university. Thus there is no loss. It is a win-win because if they succeed in getting XYZ they can claim that their efforts led to getting XYZ and if they don’t they can blame the state government for neglecting the region/district/town/block and promise that if they come to power they would make XYZ  happen.

Instead, Orissa’s opposition often follows a very risky strategy which often goes against them. What they do is they oppose the establishment of UVW, say because it displaces X number of families. While some of those families (Y < X) may not want to be displaced many others are happy with the compensation package. But a large number of people who live nearby and are not displaced would really like UVW established. In agitating againts the establishment of UVW the opposition parties usually create a lot of drama, get a lot of lefties – many from outside state – involved, sometime pursue violence, many times block roads (causing a lot trouble to the locals) and get a lot of press.  By reading the press, which usually jumps on reporting events (bandhs, violence, road closure, etc.), they wrongly assume that they are getting a lot of popularity.

But actually while they do get the support of the Y families who do not want to displaced, they have lost support of X-Y families who want to move and the neighboring people who think they would have been benefitted by the project. So the opposition parties, by  doing this, basically harm themesleves as well as Orissa.

If they were smarter they would be more discriminating in their  targets and in their approach. Ofcourse, if the govt is violating laws (including displacement laws) they should oppose that; If the compensation is not fair they should pursue getting higher compensation; etc. Such a constructive approach would not only get them the votes of X (all of whom would get a better deal because of the opposition) but also of many people locally and across the state who would be impressed by the constructive approach.

(The opposition parties will say that they do indeed point out laws that are broken and even go to court. That is true. They do. But often they make many frivolous cases which take time but ultiamtely goes against the opposition. All that results is the delay of the project, lost opportunity, and a lot of people annoyed at the opposition for their negative impact.) 

So I will advise the opposition to at least pursue the three examples I mentioned above (Medical College in Balasore, University in Rourkela and starting of Central University of Orissa in Koraput), change their game plan in regards to Vedanta University, Posco, and Tata’s Kalinganagar project, and in general pursue the alternate strategy suggested above. Let me now be more specific on some of these.

• On Vedanta University, the opposition should create a database of all the people that are being displaced and make sure the promises made to them are kept. The opposition can make sure all other promises are being kept such as regarding to where water comes from, how the environment is not harmed, etc.
• On POSCO, they can again make sure that the promises made to the displaced people are kept. They can push for better compensation. They can team up with the state government in pushing the center for better lease rates. etc.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

The joint venture (JV) Company formed between the state owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Sterlite Industries India Ltd (SIIL) for mining of bauxite in the Niyamagiri hills in Kalahandi district will be incorporated as a Private Limited Company soon.

.. “The draft memorandum of association (MoA) and Articles of Association (AoA) of the new company has been submitted to OMC for approval. The incorporation of the JV company will be completed shortly after the approval”, P K Panda, vice-president (mines), Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.(VAL) told Business Standard.

The process of incorporation of the Joint Venture company named as “South-West Orissa Bauxite Mining Private Ltd.” has been set in motion after the signing of the modified JV agreement between SIIL and OMC in February this year, paving the way for start of bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills near Lanjigarh.

Meanwhile, the special purpose vehicle (SPV) namely ‘Lanjigarh Scheduled Area Foundation’ has already been formed and SIIL has deposited Rs 20 crore up to 2008-09 with the SPV for overseeing the all-round development in the Lanjigarh area.

Supreme Court in its judgement on 8 August 2008 cleared mining of bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills located in the Kalahandi district by SIIL following affidavits filed by SIIL, OMC and Orissa government accepting the rehabilitation package suggested by it on 23 November 2007.

While the company has deposited Rs 12 crore for tribal development, another Rs 10 crore is proposed to be deposited with the SPV during 2009-10. As part of its plan for the overall development of the area, the company also intends to provide connectivity to all the villages of Dongria Kandh, which are remotely located.

This is in line with the 5-year development plan drawn up for these villages by the Dongria Kandh Development Authority (DKDA).

Regarding the JV agreement of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) with OMC for getting the raw material linkage, the apex court had stated that since Vedanta Resources Plc is not an indian company, it will not have any objection if the its indian subsidiary (SIIL) is made the JV partner of OMC.All provisions of the supreme court judgement were incorporated in the modified JV agreement signed by OMC and SIIL

It may be noted, VAL, a Sterlite group company, signed the JV agreement with the OMC on 5 October 2004, for developing bauxite mines at the Niyamgiri hill near Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district and the Khambasi hill in the adjoining Rayagada district. The bauxite was to be used for use in its one million tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh.

Following is from Sambada. It reports that Jindal Steel of Kalinganagar is trying to give its extra power to its plant in Harayana against the agreement that the state of Orissa has the first rights to get that extra power. The Orissa high court was approached on this and it has put a stay order on this. Industrialists should realize that such attempt to steal from a state, that too a poor state like Orissa, is what gives the whole conecpt of industrailization a bad name.

Following is from a report in hospitalitybizindia.com.

The Orissa government is planning to set up two mega food parks in south Orissa’s Ganjam and Gajapati districts at an investment of Rs 200 Crore. The proposal to set up the parks is pending before the Union Government’s concerned departments.

Of the total investment, the Union Government is likely to bear 50 per cent of the cost, while the balance 50 per cent will be provided by the Orissa government. Two mega food processing units are likely to be set up in the food parks to facilitate vegetable and fruit processing. The proposed food parks will offer marketing avenues for different agricultural and horticultural products from the farmers after these products are scientifically processed.

During the last several years, many of the industrialization projects, such as POSCO, Tata Steel project in Kalinganagar, and even the Vedanta University project were drastically slowed down because of protests organized or led by the communist parties. For political reasons the opposers would not come and properly discuss a give-n-take with the Orissa government. With the BJD-CPI-CPI(M) alliance there is a chance that at least the opposers led by the CPI and CPI-M will join the (hopefully) BJD government in a discussion and will be less rigid in their stand and win-win solutions would be arrived at that will be good for the locals and good for the  industrialization of Orissa. In addition if BJD supports UPA at the center then Congress may not create much trouble, and with BJP having very little influence in these regions, these and other projects, including land acquisition for various Railway projects, could proceed faster with changes that will safeguard the interests of the locals.  

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The government has awarded the country’s first two coal-to-liquid-petroleum projects to the Tatas and Jindal Steel and Power.

Both the projects, estimated to cost $6-8 billion each, will come up in Orissa.

The Union coal ministry has allotted the Ramchandi block to Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) and the north Arkhapal block to Strategic Energy Technology Systems Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Sons and Sasol of South Africa.

…Jindal Steel will use the technology of Germany’s Lurgi, while the Tatas will depend on Sasol’s expertise.

In each project, annual production is estimated at four million tonnes based on the daily production of 80,000 barrels.

The process involves the gassification of coal to produce synthetic gas, which is then converted to crude through different technologies.

Given the quality of Indian coal, crude from this process will cost $55-60 a barrel, about 50 per cent more than the current price of $40 a barrel.

However, the project will take at least six years to take off, and crude prices are likely to rule higher than the current levels.

“When a project of this magnitude is being conceived for 25-30 years, one does not only look at current economics,” a JSPL official said.

The process also involves the washing of coal, and the waste thus produced will be used to produce power. JSPL said the project would help it generate 1,350MW of power.

The crude oil produced from coal is expected to be low on sulphur. The bulk of the fuel will be diesel, which is consumed 5 times more in India than petrol.

JSPL’s proposed unit will be located at Kishore Nagar in Angul district of Orissa. The site has been selected keeping in mind the availability of water and rail and road connectivity.

…  JSPL is also building a 6mt steel plant at Angul. Tata Steel, too, plans to set up a unit in Orissa. JSPL said it had already placed the order for two coal gassifier units for the upcoming steel plants at Angul and in Chattisgarh.

Following is from a report in Oil and Gas journal.

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. has awarded a contract to Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd. and Foster Wheeler (GB) Ltd. for a grassroots refinery to be built in Paradip, Orissa state, India.

Foster Wheeler will manage the project for the major part of the development of the new 15 million tonne/year refinery and will also execute the engineering, procurement, and construction management for 15 of the key refinery process units, plus offsites, utilities, and infrastructure.

Foster Wheeler’s scope includes the crude distillation units, reforming, alkylation and butane isomerization units, plus significant offsites, utilities, and infrastructure. Commissioning of the project is expected during 2011-12.

Following is from a report in Expressbuzz.

The Mission Biofuels India Pvt Limited has submitted a proposal to the State Government to set up a biodiesel refinery in Orissa.

The Mumbai-based company has sought 35 hectares of land to set up the refinery at an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company Asish Swaroop today met Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy at the Secretariat to discuss the proposal.

The company gave a power point presentation on the project.

The project is expected to give returns from the fourth year. It is estimated that 3 kg of jatropha yields one litre of bio-diesel, the production cost of which comes to around Rs 22. The company has invested Rs 40 crore for taking up jatropha cultivation in 12 districts of the State. The cultivation will be taken up on the land of BPL families with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) funds.

Around five lakh acres will be covered by 2011 for which a 200-member team of the company is working in Orissa to promote jatropha cultivation.

Following is excerpted from a report in Indopia.

The Orissa government today formally approved investment of about Rs 35,000 crore in the power and steel sectors of the state. The high-level clearance authority (HLCA) chaired by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave green signals for the investment in five power projects and one steel unit.

… The HLCA approved investment in five proposals in the power sector and one steel project, Garg said adding that altogether the projects would provide direct employment to over 6,000 people.

The projects, which got HLCA nod were – Visaka Thermal Power Limited (1100 MW), Sahara India Private Limited (1,320 MW), L&T (1,680 MW), JSPL (1,320 MW) and Ind-Bharat Limited (700 MW).

The HLCA approved JSPL&aposs another proposal of further investment in its proposed 6mtpa steel mill at Bainda.

JSPL, which had earlier proposed to invest Rs 13,135 crore in its steel project could now invest Rs 22,420 crore.

Following is an excerpt from a report in domain-b.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest exporter of information technology and IT-backed products, has opened a 1,000-seat software development centre at Bhubaneswar – TCS Kalinga Park – as the company extends its presence to Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

…  Spread over 45 acres of land, TCS Kalinga Park will have a capacity of 7,000 seats at full capacity, he added.

With over 70 per cent of campus hiring at TCS taking place at Tier II and Tier III cities, these centres will drive growth for the company,  he said.

TCS Kalinga Park, an approved special export zone (SEZ), also boasts of the country’s first Energy and Environmental Design (Leed)-rated IT campus.

Planning Commission secretary S Pani, who was instrumental in providing a boost to the IT sector in Orissa, said Bhubaneswar has the potential to become a major IT hub with at least 50,000 software developers.

The Tata Group, which has so far invested in a Ginger hotel and the TCS software development centre in Orissa, will also be investing in a mega-steel plant in the state.

”Orissa, regarded as a late starter in the nineties had emerged as a favored IT destination due to the congenial work environment and effective policy initiatives, ” said chief minister Naveen Patnaik while inaugurating the TSC Kalinga Park.

The chief minister also said the state government will soon get into the e-governance mode for all procurement and tendering processeses.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The State Bank of India (SBI), the largest bank in the country, has picked up 19.7 per cent equity in Orissa-based Mayfair Hotels and Resorts (MHRL) through a private equity (PE) deal.

The deal was for 37,33,333 shares with a face value of Rs 10 each. … As a result, the subscribed equity base of the company has increased to 1,89,33,333 shares from 1,52,00,000 shares previously. Post-deal, the promoters’ share will be 80 per cent.

… Dilip Ray, chairman and the managing director of MHRL, said. He said, the company plans to hit the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) in about 24 to 36 months after utilisation of the proceeds of the 19.7 percent equity issued to SBI. The timing of the IPO will depend on the market condition. The group is in the process of executing a Rs 260-crore expansion plan. While the company intends to raise about Rs 124-150 crore from the proposed IPO, the borrowing component is likely to be about Rs 65 to 75 crore. The remaining funds will be mobilised in the form of internal accruals. The new 5-star deluxe property of Mayfair Gangtok, developed by a subsidiary, is expected to be commissioned by March 2009.

Meanwhile, the company has forayed into western India tourist circuit through acquisition of of an existing 32-room hotel at Betul Beach in Goa. This unit will be operational by September 2009 after refurbishment and upgradation to a 5-star boutique at an investment of about Rs 25 crore.

MHRL has been achieving an annual growth of 22 per cent for the past four years and has completed the expansion of its four operative properties at Bhubaneswar, Puri, Rourkela and Darjeeling by adding 52 rooms with additional facilities. Post-expansion, MHRL will have an inventory of 600 rooms spread over 12 properties in ten locations, sources said. It intends to add three properties at Puri (second unit), Cuttack and Chilika, which will add 134 rooms to the inventory. Since land for these projects are available, Cuttack and Puri properties are expected to be operational by June 2010. Similarly, Chilika property is expected to be operational by September 2010. The land acquisition for the Paradeep and Jharsuguda property will be taken up in 2011 and the entire process of expansion will be completed by June 2011, sources added.

The company achieved a turnover of Rs 48.5 crore in 2007-08 with a net profit of Rs 9.27 crore. Despite the slowdown, it hopes to achieve a turnover of Rs 60 crore in 2008-09 with expected net profit of Rs13 crore.

“Nowhere the slowdown has impacted our business. We have 100 per cent occupancy in our Bhubaneswar, Puri and Rourkela property,” Ray added.

Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.

… Mr.Agarwal impressed upon the Chief Minister that his group is eager to expand the .50 million ton smelter in Jharsuguda to a 1.6 million ton per annum (MTPA). 

Naveen Patnaik, asked the Chief Secretary to look into the matter finalize the expansion program, said sources. 

Mr.Agarwal updated the Chief Minister about the status of Vedanta’s ongoing projects in the state here on 3 January..

The Alumina Project at Lanjigarh, Smelter and Power Projects at Jharsuguda and the University project at Puri is being implemented by the Vedanta group.

On Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, adoption of 400 anganwadis, providing education for 14000 children at Kalahandi are being implemented, briefed Mr.Agarwal.

Mr. Agarwal agreed to extend the coverage to 40000 children and agreed to introduce the Mid Day Meal scheme for 30000 primary and the secondary level school student in the state through Nandi and Sterlite Foundation as the Chief Minister requested him.

He also announced a 100 bedded state-of-the-art multi-speciality hospital at Jharsuguda will provide medical facility to the local people.

Chairman Vedanta group reiterated his earlier commitment to build a 1000 bedded super-specialty hospital at Puri.

It was also informed that the design and the engineering has been completed and construction is to begin soon.

In addition Mr Agarwal put forth his plans of setting up of a downstream Aluminium Park in collaboration with the government to promote as many as 600 small and medium scale industries at Jharsuguda. 

The project will generate large scale employment opportunities and additional economic activities in the region.

Currently the Vedanta Group’s investment commitments are in excess of Rs 50,000 crores, half of which has already been invested in various projects of Orissa.

Vedanta is presently generating a huge number of direct and indirect employment for approximately 25000 people, eighty percent of which belong to the state of Orissa.

After the meeting the CM, Mr Agarwal told reporters that all the ongoing projects of Vedanta would continue as per schedule in spite of the recent global recession.

He also assured that in his personal capacity he would make all possible efforts to complete the Vedanta University Project, a world class University at par with the Havard and Stanford University of U,S.A.

He has already committed personal contribution of Rs 5000 crore towards this project.

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

The State-level single window clearance authority (SWCA) today gave approval to nine project proposals worth over Rs 13,000 crore.

The Ashapura Minechem Limited, the largest multi-mineral solution provider in the country and the flagship of Ashapura Group, has evinced interest to set up mineral separation plant in Puri district with an investment of Rs 910 crore. The plant will separate minerals from beach sand and it will produce titanium dioxide, widely used in paints. The project will create employment opportunities for 300 persons, Industries Secretary Ashok Dalwai told mediapersons.

The other new proposal cleared by the SWCA was a 1.2 million tonnes iron ore beneficiation and pelletisation plant by Jaiswal Nicco Industries at Harmote near Barbil in Keonjhar district. The company planned to invest Rs 452 crore and the proposed project would generate employment opportunities to 500 persons.

The proposal of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) for capacity addition to its existing steel plant from two million tonnes to six million tonne was also approved. The steel production of the plant will be 3 million tonne through DRI (sponge iron) route and another 3 million tonnes through blast furnace route. The company has also proposed to increase the capacity of its thermal power plant from 900 mega watt to 1080 MW. The total investment of the company will increase from Rs 13,135 crore to Rs 22,440 crore.

The authority also cleared the expansion plan of International Mineral Trading Company having a pelletisation plant at Barbil in Keonjhar district. The company proposed to set up an iron ore beneficiation plant of 1.5 million tonne capacity with an investment of Rs 175 crore.

The BRG Iron and Steel Company at Khurunti in Dhenkanal district proposed to increase its steel production capacity from 0.257 MTA to 1.2 MTA with an investment of Rs 960 crore. The project has received environmental clearance.

Shree Metallics also proposed to increase its steel plant capacity from 0.25 MTA to 0.98 MTA with an investment of Rs 709 crore. The other expansion projects include Grewal Associates sponge iron plant at Barbil to 0.25 MTA steel plant and a 15 MW power plant, Dinabandhu Steel and Power for a 0.26 MTA steel plant with 25 MW power plant and Ganesh Metallics for 0.25 MTA steel plant with 16 MW captive power plant.