___________

Following is from an article by Nageshwar Patnaik in Economic Times. Nageshwar is a big critic of the Tatas. So coming from him, I give a lot of value to the article.

Buoyed by successful resettlement of displaced persons after five years, Tata Steel, which is setting up a 6-mtpa steel plant at Kalinga Nagar in Orissa’s Jajpur district, has undertaken massive infrastructure development work at the project site to get support of the local people, especially the tribals.

Under its Tata Steel Parivar resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) programme, the leading steel producer of the country has laid 20 km of quality motorable roads connecting all rehabilitation colonies, besides constructing 32 km of drainage system at adjoining tribal-dominated villages such as Trijanga, Sansailo and Gobarghati.

As many as 300 sodium vapour halogen lamp posts have been installed and pipe water provision made to provide better life to the displaced people living in rehabilitation colonies.

Each colony in the project area has a dispensary, community centre and several education centres offering management and technical courses.

“The Tata Steel Parivar rehabilitation scheme at Kalinga Nagar provides substantially better facilities than the government-framed R&R policy. The government policy provides employment for one member from each core household. On the other hand, Tata Steel Parivar policy provides employment opportunities for each major member of the core house. It also provides training facilities for technical skill upgrade,” a press statement, issued by the company here on Thursday, said.

The release also noted that scholarships were being provided for displaced persons pursuing higher education in professional fields such as medicine, engineering and management.

“An amount of Rs 2.21 lakh is also provided as onetime assistance in lieu of employment. Further, under the Tata Steel Parivar policy, each family is given a monthly maintenance allowance of Rs 2,000-2,300 till they get employment in the plant whereas the policy stipulates payment of maintenance allowance for 12 months only,” it added.

The opposition in Kalinganagar has finally seen light and allowed the Tatas to build the infrastructure of Kalinganagar. Related to this, The Telegraph of UK has apologized to the Tatas for their negative coverage.

Things also seem to be going in the positive direction in the POSCO front and I hope the people there visit Tata’s colonies in Kalinganagar and demand and get similar or better facilities and form a positive partnership with POSCO. In addition the Odisha government should push POSCO in developing a POSTECH like University in Paradeep.

However, there is not much progress with respect to Vedanta Aluminum in Kalahandi or Vedanta University in Puri. Here again it would be wise for the people there to visit Tata’s colonies Kalinganagar and demand and get similar or better facilities and form a positive partnership with Vedanta. But the time may be running out for Puri as Vedanta University Project has indicated that it may give up and move south where it will be welcomed with open arms. If that happens it would of course be a mistake of a century for Puri and Odisha.

In regards to the Arcelor-Mittal and Keonjhar the company really has not made much visible effort to woo the people.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu Business Line.

Apeejay Infralogistics Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Apeejay Surrendra Group and Eredene Capital Plc, UK, hopes to commission the first phase of its two integrated logistics parks at Haldia (West Bengal) and Kalinganagar (Orissa) towards the end of this year.

… Mr Sourav Daspatnaik, Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group, said, “We have just received the Commerce Ministry’s approval for setting up an inland container depot (ICD) at Kalinganagar …”

The Haldia integrated logistics park, estimated at Rs 200 crore in phases, would come up on over 90 acres while the one at Kalinganagar, costing Rs 60 crore, over 30 acres.

The Kalinganagar logistics park, he said, would be different from the one at Haldia because it would cater to the requirements of the steel units coming up in the area. “The big names in steel such as Jindals, the Tatas, and the Visa Group are present at Kalinganagar,” he said.

… In the first phase, the Haldia outfit would be complete with an ICD, warehousing facilities – both covered and open, truck terminal and trade facilitation centre and other facilities. Similar facilities, though on a smaller scale, too were being created at Kalinganagar, he added.

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

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) today cleared nine new investment proposals worth Rs 4920.26 crore. Out of these, five are in the cement sector, two aluminium conductor units, a maize processing unit and a petroleum coke plant.

Out of the five new cement projects, two are of Madras Cement which will set up its units at Sundergarh and Malkangiri.

The company’s Sundargarh plant will have two million tonne per annum (mtpa) cement capacity along with 40 MW of captive power generation facility. The project is estimated to cost Rs 750 crore. Madras Cement, known for its Ramko brand of cement, will also have a cement fibre sheet plant at the same location at an investment of Rs 35 crore.

The company’s second cement unit in the state, also with a capacity of two mtpa, will come up at Malkanagiri. It will have a 36 MW Captive Power Plant and the combined cost of the project is pegged at Rs 700 crore.

Apart from Madras Cement, Ajmer-based Shree Cement, known for its Bangur brand of cement, has proposed to set up a three mtpa cement unit and a 36 MW CPP, also at Malkangiri, at an investment of Rs 683 crore.

ACC Cement intends to set up a three mtpa cement unit and a 50 MW CPP at Malkangiri, involving an investment of Rs 1850 crore.

Similarly, Emami Group which has a newsprint making plant at Balgopalpur in Balasore district will invest Rs 179 crore at Somnathpur in the same district for setting up a 0.6 mtpa cement grinding unit.

… Among the other investment proposals cleared by SLSWCA is the Seashore Group’s plan to set up a maize processing unit at Papdahandi block in Nabarangpur district at a cost of Rs 160 crore. The facility will come up on 123 acres of land and will require two lakh litres of water per day. The project will create 96 direct jobs besides creating indirect employment opportunity for around 6000 people.

Sterlite Technologies Ltd, a Vedanta Group firm, will invest Rs 51.26 crore on establishing an aluminium conductor plant as well as an aluminium alloy rod unit at Brundamal near Jharsuguda. This plant will be a downstream unit of the company’s existing aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda.

Kalinga Calciners has proposed to set up petroleum coke plant near Paradeep at a cost of Rs 80 crore. The plant will have an overall capacity of 2,20,000 tonnes per annum which will be achieved in two phases.

The SLSWCA also cleared the proposal of Hindustan Vidyut Products Ltd which has evinced interest in setting up an aluminium conductor plant at Jharsuguda, entailing an investment of Rs 389 crore. This project which will come up on 75 acres of land will create direct employment for 153 people and creating indirect jobs for around 400 others.

Its good to see that some of the above units are proposed for remote backward districts such as Malkangiri and Nabarangpur.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ratan Jindal owned JSL Ltd (formerly Jindal Stainless Ltd) for setting up of a 1320 Mw super critical plant with Independent Power Producer (IPP) status at Luni in Dhenkanal district.

The project envisages an investment of Rs 7375 crore and it is expected to generate direct and indirect employment for 2600 persons.

The company has sought allotment of 2000 acres of land through the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (Idco).

… This would be the second major project of the company in the state. The company is currently setting up a 1.6 million tonne integrated stainless steel plant at Kalinganagar. With this, the total projected power generation from the projects for which the state government has singed MoUs has increased to 32,420 Mw.

…Energy minister, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said, the government expects the IPPs to be able to generate 2400 Mw by the end of this year and 6450 Mw by the end of 2012-13.

Ratan Jindal, vice-chairman and the managing director, JSL Ltd said, the group is producing about 4000 Mw power at present. This is likely to increase to 12000 Mw by 2012-13, which would put the company among the major power producers in the country.

Referring to the 1.6 million tonne per annum integrated stainless steel project being set up at Kalinganagar, he said, the first phase of 0.8 million tonne would be commissioned by the end of this year. Chief secretary Tarunkanti Mishra and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

One concern I have is the land requirement of these power plants. They should reduce this as much as possible. In this regard some pointers are:

• A 2006 NEERI report.

The website of Jajpur Cluster Development Limited is http://www.jcdl.in/. As per the page http://www.jcdl.in/about.htm Kalinganagar Industries Association (KIA), an association of industries in the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex holds 51% equity capital in JCDL whereas the equity held by IDCO is 49%. The members of the KIA are:

As per http://www.jcdl.in/app_proj.htm the following projects have been approved for implementation.

Tathya.in has a report on the Trijanga township buil by Tata Steel in this area. Following are some excerpts

Eco-friendly atmosphere, planned township, wide concrete roads, round the clock power supply, piped water supply, permanent eco-management and drainage system with lush greenery are something, which even some of the modern townships in the country do not have.

But the new township established by Tata Steel Paribar in Trijanga in Jajpur has all these facilities and much beyond. …

The Company apart from providing 0.1 acres of homestead land and Rs 2.5 lakhs for house construction to relocated families had several round of discussions with them while planning for their new home at Trijanga Rehabilitation Colony.

While It has provided all the basic amenities like water supply, electricity supply, ration, community space, grain storage facility, children’s recreation park, toilets, welfare office, balwadis, dispensary etc, the sprawling greenery that has come up in last two years is for one to see it to believe it.

The colourful houses with dish antennas besides concrete paved roads with avenue plantation and permanent drains shows the commitment of Tata Steel to usher in a better quality of life for the rehabilitated families in Trijanga.

16 km all weather motorable roads, 32km of drainage, solid waste and garbage management through dedicated agencies has been provided.

The Company has also provided sodium vapor halogen lamps for street lighting.

Tata Steel Parivar members are also now use safe portable drinking water from running taps and consume 500 watts per family electricity.

Youths of Parivar member use Community centre for recreational purposes provided by the Company.

Round the clock health care facility is being provided in Trijanga Rehabilitation Colony through a dispensary and 24 hours standby ambulance services.

All of this hard work of rehabilitated tribals in a better atmosphere has blossomed into emerging township where rural and Urban Odisha co-exist. …

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard. (Thanks to Future Berhampur for the pointer.)

… Though Tata Steel’s SEZ project was cleared by the Board of Approvals (BoA) under the Union commerce ministry, it is yet to be notified due to problems in possession of land.

“The land possession problems in Chamakahandi and Basanaputi villages will be sorted out very soon. Company authorities have agreed to undertake a fresh survey on the lands being left out in these villages, for the payment of compensation and taking physical possession”, said an official of Tata Steel.

Tata Steel had initially planned for establishment of a shore-based mega steel plant near Gopalpur and applied for about 3,700 acres of land . …

Meanwhile, the company expects to take physical possession of land for the Gopalpur SEZ very soon. “We have already deposited the amount for the land acquisition and hope to get physical possession very soon for construction of the boundary walls”, said S S Routray, senior manager (administration), Gopalpur SEZ project ofTata Steel.

A tripartite meeting was held between the villagers, company officials and the district administration for physical acquisition of around 51.502 acres of land in Chamakhandi village and around 25 acres in Basanaputi village.

This meeting had a very positive response, said Routray.

… Tata Steel, on the other hand intends to withdraw from the 206.685 acres of land at Kalipalli village and 691 acres of land at Paikapada. According to official sources, though the land at Paikapada was acquired, it was not handed over to the company.

Once the implementation of the SEZ project starts, Tata Steel will have 2792.659 acres in nine villages including Chamakhandi and Basanaputi villages in its possession, sources said.

• See also the earlier report at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3152.

Following is an excerpt from dnaindia.com.

… The port may be called the Adani-Kalinga Port.

The group has been nurturing a desire to have a port on the eastern coast in addition to the existing one on the western coast. It will help consolidate this group’s position in the port and shipping business in India.

Moreover, any group that owns major ports on both the western and eastern coasts of India could be expected to play a major role in coastal shipping as well, for ferrying goods from one coast to another, thus reducing costs, time and the incidence of pilferage that plagues road transportation.

… The proposed outlay is around Rs 10,000 crore. According to current plans, this port is to have 16 berths, and will have a capacity of 100 million tonnes —- almost similar to the capacity planned for Mundra.

… The interest of the Adani group has been confirmed by Satyabrat Sahu, transport and commerce secretary of Orissa, who is on record stating, “The Adani Group has given this proposal to set up a port. The state government is examining the proposal.”

… According to senior people in both the Adani group as well as the Orissa government, the process of examination is almost complete, and two of three approvals required have been obtained.

The last one should be in hand in a few days.

Adani officials said the port could be developed in two phases near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district, barely three km from Jatadhari Muhan, where Posco India plans to set up its own captive port.

The group plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore in each of the two phases. If all goes well, 12 of the 16 berths should be up and running by 2015-16.

According to current plans, the port will handle coal, iron ore, liquid and containerised cargo. It may be mentioned that the Adani group owns several coal mines in Indonesia. Some of this coal is already being imported into India through the Mundra port.

Similarly, the Adani-Kalinga port could be the entry point for coal imports on the eastern coast as well, to feed many of the power plans that are expected to come up south of the proposed Adani-Kalinga port.

Similarly, since the Adani group has already become India’s largest player in the edible oil market through Adani-Wilmar Ltd, and owns oil plantations in Malaysia, this port could also play a significant part in edible oil imports.

The Adanis have also shown an interest in mining projects.

What is not known at this stage is the amount of land that will be available to the port, since a successful port must have good draft (depth), lots of land for storing goods meant to be shipped, and for evacuation of cargo that arrives at the port and transportation linkages to the hinterland.

… Since the Adani group has offered to the state government that it will be willing to invest in road and railways networks in and around the port, such a move could help in the overall economic growth of the state itself.

Such efforts could be further buttressed by hectic lobbying by both the Posco management and the owners of Dhamra Port (jointly owned by Larsen & Toubro and the Tata Group) for improving rail and road linkages on the eastern coast in India.

As was the case with the Mundra Port, the Adani group also plans to invest in power projects near this port as well.

The Odisha government should propose that Adani fund a new railway line along the proposed highway between Bhubaneswa/Khurda to Paradip and also part of the Khurda-Balangir line. The advantage for Adani will be:

• They will have a shorter path for their oil and other imports to be distributed in south India.
• Similarly through the Khurda-Balangir route and with another short-cut from Balangir to Nawapara Rd (need to be constructed) they will have another quick access path to western and central India. 

(The above mentioned three segments are shown in brown below.)

This will be a win-win situation in that it will allow both Adani and Odisha government to industrialize the Khurda-Balangir corridor and the interior areas such as Nayagarh, Phulbani and Bouda. Unlike the Railway line via Talcher and Angul and the one via Paradip-Haridaspur-Jakhapura-Keonjhar, the Paradip-Khurda-Balangir path will have less traffic from other entities, including very little passenger traffic, making it faster for Adani to send goods that way. Since the Khurda-Balangir corridor lacks industries the government may find it easier to find land and local support for industries in that corridor. In that case, it can encourage Adani and others to set up some of their planned industries in that corridor.

All of the above assume that the above dnaindia.com report is correct in that Adani aims to import coal and oil through this port and not focus on exporting minerals from Odisha.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

… "The state has received an investment proposal of Rs.101,100 crore (Rs.1 trillion/$22 billion) from Jindal Steel and Power. About $10 billion has been proposed for the new coal-to-liquid project," a senior official of the state steel and mines department said.

The project includes the coal-to-liquid plant, the thermal plant and a coal washery.

A coal block has already been allocated to the company in Angul district, over 160 km from here, by the central government. And the steel producer and power utility is now looking for about 2,000 hectares of land for the project, Naveen Jindal said.

"About three sites were being explored and the company prefers a location near the coal block," a senior company official said.

Also, Jindal is building a 12.5 million tonne steel plant, a 1,320 MW capacity power plant and an industrial complex in the same district. The company requires about 4,500 acres land for the steel and the power plant. "About 4,000 acres has already been acquired," the official said.

"The work on the steel and the power plant is going on and we hope to commission one part of the power plant and the steel plant by the end of this year," he said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Aditya Birla Group chairman, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla is very hopeful of completion of the Rs 4,500-crore alumina refinery plant coming up at Kashipur in Koraput district and expansion of Hindalco aluminium smelter project at Hirakud in Sambalpur district. 

… In June last year, the Orissa government had recommended the union mining ministry to allot mining lease of Lakharis bauxite deposit in Koraput district in favour of Hindalco Industries Limited, the flagship company of Aditya Birla Group.

This is the second bauxite deposit to be allotted to the Group, which entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Orissa government in April, 2005 is to set up a world-class aluminium complex in the state.

Officials said the Lakharis mine is estimated to have about 45 million bauxite deposits.

Earlier, the Hindalco was allotted Kodingamali bauxite deposit in the district for its proposed aluminium complex at Kansari.

Aditya Aluminium (another unit of Hindalco) had signed a MoU with the Orissa government on April 8, 2005 to set up an integrated aluminium complex in the state. The project involves a total investment of Rs 11,500 crores for production of 1.5 lakh tones of alumina and 3.25 lakh tonnes of aluminium per annum.

Aditya Aluminium has already signed a joint venture umbrella agreement with the Orissa Mining Corporation for bauxite mining in Koraput district.

The company has sought 2012 acres of land for its refinery and 3331 acres for the smelter, sources said.

The state government is in the process of acquiring land for the project, but faces problem in some villages, the sources added resulting in the delay in grounding of the project.

Gangapada is couple of kilometers before Khurda on the National Highway. The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack CDP proposes the new airport to be located there. Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard about the Vedanta sponsored trauma center coming up there.

The construction work for a 100-beded, state-of-the-art Trauma Care Centre, to be set up by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) in Bhubaneswar, is likely to start soon.

The state government has handed over the required 10 acres of land for the centre which would come up near Gangapada on the national highway No.5 in the Bhubaneswar-Khurda patch. It will handle the ever-increasing trauma cases and an estimated Rs 75 crore is proposed to be spent on the project. HOSMAC Consultant, an internationally reputed hospital maker has been roped in by the company to render its professional expertise for this project, company sources said.

… The setting up the centre assumes importance as the death rate in accidents per hundred population in Orissa at 35 compares unfavourably with the national average. Add to it, there is no specialized trauma centre in the state with latest facilities to cater to the treatment needs. “The proposed centre will have facilities that will cater to patients of all income groups at any point of time.

Following is an excerpt from an IANS report.

JSL Ltd, formerly Jindal Stainless Ltd, signed an agreement with the Orissa government Wednesday to set up a stainless steel park in the state on an investment of Rs.704 crore.

The park would be set up adjacent to its 1.6 million tonne per annum integrated steel project coming up at Kalinga Nagar industrial complex in Jajpur district, …

… The project, to be built on 300 acres, will have 71 units, including a service centre.

More details are in an article in Orissadiary. Following are some excerpts.

JSL Vice – Chairman Jindal said the proposed park would generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for about 3800 and1200 persons, respectively. He added that the project would ensure high tax receipts of around Rs 140 crore for the state government in the first five years in terms of excise and income tax value added products. As per the MoU, JSL will develop the park and provide all infrastructures like boundary wall, roads, drains, research and development centre, power and water supply, railway network, township, school and hospital.

Architectural products, surgical and hospital equipment, hardware, stamping and forging, cold rolling, and re-rolling mills, tube and pipes, heat exchangers, heavy machinery capital goods, kitchenware, lifestyle products and stainless steel composite panel manufacturing units will come up in the park. To mark on the occasion, five companies Empowertrans Private Limited, Jagadamba Exports, Jupitor India, Kraftsware Limited and Kitechen Essentials signed MoUs with the JSL Limited government to set up down stream industries.

Following are excerpts from Suchismita Sahoo’s report in orissadiary.com.

… the idea to set up a state of art hospital at Bhubanheswar has recently been discussed between Chief Minster Mr Navin Patttanik and Mr Anil Agarwal, Chairman of the Vedanta Group in his last meeting, and off late the Vedanta management reviewed it seriously and Government has agreed to extend their support to make the best in class .

Realising the need of proper provision to handle the ever-increasing trauma cases, Vedanta has come forward to set up a 100-bed Level I, state-of-the-art Trauma Care Centre in Bhubaneswar. Revealing Vedanta’s plans regarding this novel initiative, the Vice President of Vedanta Group, Ajit Kumar Samal said, "This centre will be established on 10 acres of land involving a proposed investment of Rs 75 crore. As a Level I trauma care centre, it will have facilities that will cater to patients of all income groups at any point of time. We have handed over the responsibility of designing and construction to HOSMAC, an internationally reputed professional group involved in hospital making and research." Informing about the facilities that will be available at this centre, Mr. Vivek Desai, Head of HOSMAC Consultancy Services said, "The centre will have facilities like highest level of surgical care, specialists and equipment available 24 hours, education programme, preventive and outreach programs, program of research in trauma education and injury prevention. This will become a referral resource for communities in nearby regions. Both the clinical and non-clinical facilities will be of international standard. Besides the integrated trauma care facilities including General Medicine, General Surgery, Reconstructive surgery, Orthopedic surgery, Neurosurgery, Vascular surgery, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Nephrology, ENT and Radiology and Imaging diagnostic services, this centre will also have Emergency Care Services, Ambulatory Care Services and blood bank. The proposed centre is expected to come out as an unmatched proposition in trauma and burns which will include bone bank and skin bank facility. Currently there is no same line dedicated trauma hospital in Orissa or even neighboring state like West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh or Andhra Pradesh." "The institute is the first level-I trauma and burns facility in Orissa and will act as leading trauma centre in the country. The bone bank and skin bank is an unparallel facility in the country which will be available here. The centre will be backed by an integrated life saving road and air ambulance service. The hospital will ensure maximum patient safety and quality of care and will operate in line of NABH / JCI standard," he adds. 

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.

Odisha’s Power sector gets a relief as the first Unit of 2400 Independent Power Plant (IPP) at Jharsuguda would be commissioned in coming Summer’, he said to the media after meeting the Chief Minister.

This will add 600 MW to the state’s power production capacity and can help the State Government in facing the current power crisis. 

Mr. Agarwal revealed that construction work of world class Vedanta University near Puri has already started. 

At the first stage, the University will have a 1000 bed super specialty hospital and Medical College, also academic building. 

Vedanta Boss also informed the meeting that Lanjigarh refinery is fully operational by sourcing bauxite from other states, incurring a huge opportunity loss for both states as well as company. 

State Government has assured to look into the issue seriously and try to work out for an immediate solution. 

Construction activities for a specialized burn and trauma care centre at Bhubaneswar would begin very soon.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

After committing an investment of Rs 60,000 crore on various projects in Orissa including an aluminium smelter plant, an alumina refinery unit and a mega university project, London-based Vedanta Resources Plc has now evinced interest in setting up a steel plant in the state.

Vedanta plans to set up the steel plant in collaboration with engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T).

… However, he did not provide details like capacity of the proposed steel plant, location and investment. It may be noted that in October 2004, Sterlite Iron and Steel Company, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, had inked an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government for setting up a five million tonne per annum steel plant. The steel plant was to set up at Palasponga in the state’s Keonjhar district at an investment of Rs 12,502 crore. However, the project is yet to take off.

On bauxite supplies, Agarwal said, he has informed the state chief minister that Vedanta’s alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district is operational and the company is sourcing bauxite from other states to run this refinery.

The chief minister has assured that us that bauxite supplies would not be a problem in Orissa which has the fourth largest deposits of the mineral ore in the country, Agarwal informed.

He further said the company is adhering to the environmental norms in running the Lanjigarh refinery, adding, “Our refinery at Lanjigarh is a world class refinery and it is a zero discharge and zero waste unit. …"

He pointed out that the company would commence mining operations at Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district after getting the environmental clearance.

Agarwal said, Vedanta has already invested Rs 39,000 crore on various projects in Orissa and these projects have generated direct and indirect employment for about two lakh people.

Vedanta Aluminium has also decided to set aside five per cent of its net profit or Rs 10 crore every year on welfare activities of the tribals of Lanjigarh. The amount will be spent on meeting the needs of the tribals in areas like education, livelihood and health.

The company will also build the hostel for the proposed engineering college of the state government at Bhawanipatna.

On the 2400 MW (6×400) power plant at Jharsuguda, Agarwal said, the first unit of the independent power project (600 MW) will be operational from the ensuing summer.

Talking on the company’s proposed university project, he said, “We have huge local support for our university project and at first we will set up a 1000 bed state-of-the-art hospital as a part of the project.” Apart from the 1000 bed hospital, Vedanta has also firmed up plans to set up a 100-bed burn and trauma care centre at Gangapada on the outskirts of the city. Construction work on this centre wold take off very soon, Agarwal stated.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Tata Group today proposed to set up a coal-to-liquid plant in Orissa with an investment of $10 billion in joint venture with South African company, Sasol.

… “We had preliminary discussions with the chief minister about the Tata-Sasol project for converting coal into liquid,” Muthuraman said later.

The proposed project would be a large one with an investment of $10 billion, he said, adding that its exact location had not been identified yet.

The proposed plant will generate 1,600MW of power besides producing diesel, naptha and LPG. The byproducts will be tar, phenol, sulphur, ammonium, fertiliser and mining explosives.

According to sources, the proposed plant will have a capacity of 80,000 barrels per day which comes to around 3.6 million tonnes per annum.

The plant, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018, will require 28 to 31 million tonnes of coal per annum.

It will need 3,000 acres of land for the proposed plant and 24 million gallons water per day.

Update: Following are some additional details from a report in Pioneer.

• Amtech Auto Engineering would set up the complex at an investment of Rs 15,820 crore near Tangi- Choudwar. It would set up a two million tonne steel plant and 500 MW captive power plant in the complex. With this about 33,000 people will get both direct and indirect employment.

  It may be mentioned here that Jamsedpur-based RSB Trasmissions (I) Ltd, one of India’s leading auto components manufacturers, is coming up with an auto complex at Mania in Cuttack. RSB Transmission will invest Rs 430 crore in the project.

• The committee also approved JK Cement‘s one million tonne capacity plant on the road between Athagrah and Choudwar.
• BOC would set up an air separation plant at an investment of Rs 434 crore in Rourkela. It would produce oxygen, nitrogen and argons.
• Bijaya Ferro Power Private Limited would set up a power plant at Keshinga in Kalahandi with an investment of Rs 550 crore. It would take water from Tel river to produce 120 MW power.
• Ind-Bharat’s proposal to enhance its power production capacity has also got the nod of the committee. It would set up its plant at Jharsuguda with an investment of Rs 3,300 crore.
• Facor would set up its captive power plant at Rahandia near Bhadrak.
• Due to shortage of water, few plants have also changed their sites. Odisha Cement Power Plant (OCL) has shifted its plant site from Mania to Rajgangpur.
• Jinadal Stainless Steel would set up its plant in Luni instead of Gajatara in Dhenkanal.
• Kalinga Energy Power Limited would set up its plant at Jharsuguda instead of Sambalpur.
• Scwal Brewage would set up its plant at Baranga instead of Choudwar at a cost of Rs 193 crore.
• The Rs 1,320 crore Sahara Power project has shifted its plant to Ghantabahal from Turul.
• German-based Gaunteman Pipery would set up its plant beneficiation plant and pelatisation plant. The beneficiation plant would come up at Barbil and the pelatisation plant at Dhamra. Around 1,605 crore would be invested in the project.
• Aditya Alumina’s proposal to enhance its production from one million tonne to 1.5 million tonne. It would also enhance its power plant from 650 MW to 900 MW.

Following is an excerpt from Orissadiary.

The projects of Adhunic Metalics and Jindal Stainless Steel at Sundargarh and Kalinganagar, respectively have been approved. The SWCLC has also given its green signal for an air-separation plant. Projects, involving Vijay Ferrochorme and Power Pvt Ltd and Adhunic Power plant have been cleared.

Amtech Metals would establish the integrated auto-complex, first of its kind in the state. Moreover, an auto-park, steel and power plant would also be established in the complex. The cost of the entire project has been pegged at Rs 15,820 crore. All the projects are expected to provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to nearly 47,000 and 1.5 lakh people, respectively apart from bolstering the socio-economic conditions in those regions where the proposed projects would come up, state Industries Secretary, Sourabh Garg said.

Tathya has some details on the Adhunik group’s project. Following are some excerpts:

Adhunik Power & Natural Resources Limited (APNRL) has proposed to invest Rs.3883.40 crore for the 4×250 MW power plant in Birmaharajpur in Sonepur district.

… Adhunik Metaliks Limited (AML), another member of the Group has proposed to set up Down Stream Park for stainless and special products with an investment of Rs.286 crore.  … downstream industries in hot-rolling, cold-rolling utensils, kitchen and hardware.  AML has also proposed for stainless steel pipes and alloys, which received the nod.
The park will be set up at Kumarmunda in a 300 acre area in Sundargarh district.

AML is setting up steel plant at Kumarmunda with a capacity of 0.41 million ton per annum (MTPA).

Tathya has also some details on the JSL project. Following are some excerpts.

JSL Limited posed a proposal to set up a Super Critical Thermal Power Station of 1320 (660X2) megawatt capacity, which has been cleared in the meeting. The Rs.4090 crore Greenfield project will be set up at Luni in Dhenkanal district.

Most importantly JSL, which is setting up a 3.20 million ton per annum (MTPA) capacity stainless steel plant at Kalinga Nagar has proposed to set up Stainless Steel Park (SEZ) with an investment of Rs.740 crore.  … The park will promote auto components, kitchen & life style, light engineering, white goods, cold rolling, pipes and tubes, and service centre. 300 acres of land for the park is needed for the park, which will have man power requirement of more than 2000, said sources. JSL plant is likely to produce stainless steel by end of 2010 and the park is also to be completed by the same time reveal the SLSWCA Report.

The above two downstream park proposals are most likely due to the recent government focus on those aspects, before giving mining leases. The govt. needs to make sure that the down stream parks indeed materialize as proposed.

Following is from PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=54712.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh received a large number of representations in regard to the project for bauxite mining by the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC). In a statement issued here today he said the projects are now being examined in the Ministry for approval or rejection so that there is no ambiguity and project proponents do not misuse the ‘in-principle’ approval. 

The following is the text of Shri Jairam Ramesh on the issue of bauxite mining in Orissa: 

“I have been receiving a large number of representations in regard to the project for bauxite mining by the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) through Vedanta, a private mining company in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of Orissa. The total amount of forest land proposed to be diverted is 660.749 ha., of which around 353.14 ha is in the Niyamgiri reserved forest. Concerns have also been raised on the impact that this project will, interalia, have on livelihoods of tribal communities. 

The project application was received in the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoE&F) on February 26, 2005. The MoE&F gave ‘in-principle’ approval for this project on December 11,2008 under the Forest Conservation Act,1980. This ‘in-principle’ approval is to be converted to a final approval after the fulfillment of stipulations contained in the ‘in-principle’ approval. 

As the representations started coming in, on August 6, 2009 the MoE&F asked the Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Bhubaneshwar to investigate complaints that project activities have started even without the final approval of the Central Government in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The site was inspected and the site inspection report was submitted on August 16,2009. The site inspection report found that construction activity had begun in the non-forest revenue land. Technically this is not a violation of the law but it is a violation of the guidelines issued by the MoE&F which says that when a project involves non-forest and forest lands, construction in the non-forest land should not begin without clearance for activity in the forest land itself. A letter has been issued on November 25th,2009 to the Orissa Government asking for an explanation as to how the violation of this guideline has been permitted. 

On August 3, 2009, the MoE&F had issued a binding guideline to all State Governments that application for diversion under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 would be considered only after all due processes contained in the Scheduled Tribe and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act, 2006 have been fully and satisfactorily completed. A letter was subsequently issued by the MoE&F to the Orissa Government on November 3, 2009 directing the State to comply with the provisions of the Scheduled Tribe and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act, 2006 and provide evidence for the compliance before the Centre could examine conversion of the ‘in-principle’ approval to final approval. The reply of the state government is awaited. In addition, another site inspection team is being sent in the next one week to verify fresh allegations of violations of the terms of the ‘in-principle’ approval under Forest Conservation Act,1980. 

The new policy of the MoE&F does away with the concept of ‘in-principle’ approval. Projects are now being examined for approval or rejection so that there is no ambiguity and project proponents do not misuse the ‘in-principle’ approval.” 

KP/

Essel Mining is an Aditya Birla group company. Such allegation, if true, by a Birla group company is really unfortunate. No wonder many people in Orissa mistrust industrialists. If the above allegations are true, the Orissa government should cancel the mining lease of Essel Mining and sue it to get the money Orissa lost.

Following is an excerpt from a PTI report.

About 80,000 tonnes of iron-ore worth more than Rs seven crore has been seized by Orissa’s mining authorities from Koida mines in Sundargarh district, officials said today.

Mining officers, during their raids yesterday seized about 70,000 tonnes of lumps and 10,000 tonnes of fine iron-ore.

Irregularities were also found in mining operation by a contractor, they said, adding ESSEL company has allegedly left its leased mining areas untouched and has been illegally raising the iron-ore beyond its surface rights.

Essel Mining is an Aditya Birla group company. Such action, if true, by a Birla group company contractor is really unfortunate. No wonder many people in Orissa mistrust industrialists. If the above allegations are true, the Orissa government should cancel the mining lease of Essel Mining.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times by Nageshwar Patnaik.

The Aditya Birla group on Thursday signed a MoU with Orissa government to develop a sea port on Build Own Operate [BOO] basis at Chudamani in Bhadrak district on an investment of Rs.1,500 crore.

The projected capacity of the port to be developed over four years will be three million tons per annum [MTPA] in the first phase. This will be expanded subsequently to 10 mtpa.

The port will have two berths, and will handle bulk cargo such as cement, aluminium, iron ore, thermal coal, limestone, gypsum, clinker and copper. The port will be connected by a rail corridor from Markona Station to port site.

  … "In this port, directly or indirectly, about 5,000 people will be employed. By operation of the port, the state government will get revenue about Rs.20 crore per annum."

Mr Patanik hoped that the port promoter would work with the district administration and other agencies to plan and develop a port-based industrial township. …

Speaking on the occasion, Aditya Birla group executive president, Ravi Kastia said, "… We are confident that the Aditya Birla Group’s experience in putting up as many as six port facilities in the Western Coast, backed by the unstinting support of the Government of Orissa, will help us create a much required port in the state."

A report in myiris states that: "About Rs 300 million is proposed to be spent by the company for the hospital project."

Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Hindu Business Line.

Tata Steel is all set to establish a 200-bed hospital at Gobarghati in Kalinganagar industrial complex of Orissa’s Jajpur district.

About 10,000 people in the vicinity will benefit from the hospital as the steel giant has been extending healthcare facilities to people in its project as well as operational areas as part of periphery development and CSR plan, company sources said.

… For families affected in its green field steel project at Kalinganagar area, Tata Steel is setting-up the hospital in Gobarghati rehabilitation colony. The hospital building is under construction on a land of 4 acres and the civil part of the construction is almost over, the sources said.

When completed it would have round-the-clock service, pathology lab and outdoor complex. In a phase wise manner the number of beds in the hospital would increase to 200. Also to begin with, the hospital would have 4 to 5 doctors and required number of para-medical staff.

Following are excerpts from a report by Bishnu Das in Business Standard.

… Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, plans to set up an aluminium park at Jharsuguda.

The proposed park is expected to house at least 10-15 medium size downstream units with the total investment projected to be in excess of Rs 5000 crore. About 150 acres of land has been identified by the Orissa government for the purpose, sources said.

The units to come up in the park will utilise liquid alumina or ingot produced by VAL for manufacturing various products like electrical appliances, cable, aluminium extrusion and automobile parts.

The location of the park close to the VAL’s smelter plant at Jharsuguda is expected to reduce the input cost for downstream products.

…  Meanwhile, two downstream units have already applied to the district administration to set up shops in the proposed park.

On the other hand, the company’s refinery unit located at Lanjigarh has initiated steps for setting up an ancillary complex in its vicinity. The complex will house industries related to the field of fly ash bricks, cement, mineral water, hotels and food processing.

Joint advertisement by the company and District Industries Centre located at Lanjigarh was published and more than 80 applications have been received for setting up of industries in the identified field.

Sources said, about 20-25 acres of land has been earmarked for the setting up of ancillary units …

It may be noted, the company has already set up a 1 million tonne per annum greenfield alumina refinery at Lanjigarh and a 0.5 million tonne per annum aluminum smelter at Jharsuguda.

This is great news. I hope the people of Lanjigarh and Jharsuguda help in the early implementation of these plans. The downstream units often hire more people than the smelters. They also lead to the development of townships. In case of Jharsuguda such development would speed up the operationalization of the airport.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The first phase of the Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL)’s proposed 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel project and 1000 Mw power plant at Angul in Orissa is expected to be commissioned in 2011-12.

The shifting of families to be displaced by the project was going on and simultaneously, the construction of the boundary wall had started. The detailed engineering would follow the completion of the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of displaced persons and large scale construction would be taken up after that.

“We plan to start large scale construction work in January next year and the first phase commissioning is scheduled to be in 2011-12”, Rajesh Kumar Jha, executive director, JSPL told Business Standard.

He said, out of three villages to be shifted completely for the first phase construction, two villages had been rehabilitated completely. The remaining village would be rehabilitated by December this year. The company’s strategy of combining the project economy with the rehabilitated family’s economy has gone down well with the people. …

… the company had placed orders for civil and structural works worth Rs 1584.57 crore which was 60 percent of the estimated costs. Similarly, orders for plant and equipment worth Rs 4,034.34 crore had been placed which was about 35 per cent of the total estimated costs of plant and equipments.

The total cost of the project is Rs 22,420 crore with the first phase investment pegged at Rs 13,000 crore. The project has already attained financial closure and will have a 60:40 debt-equity ratio. While the debt component will be Rs 8,958 crore, the equity is Rs 13,452 crore.

…  While the company requires 5,279 acres for the steel plant, about 3000 acres have been acquired so far. The acquisition of additional 707 acres of private land is likely to be over by the end of this month.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… Projects awaiting the chief minister’s nod include those proposed by National Thermal Power Corporation (Rs18,000 crore), L&T-Dubal (Rs 19,668 crore) and Lanco Babanh Power (Rs 11,402 crore) among others.

… The SLSWCA in its meeting held in March 2007 cleared the Rs 4232.54 crore investment proposal of Ashapura Minechem Ltd for setting up of a 0.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) alumina refinery and 0.15 mtpa smelter with 300 Mw captive power plant (CPP) in Koraput district.

Similarly, NTPC proposal to set up a 3200 Mw thermal power project at Darlipali in Sundergarh district was approved by the SLSWCA in February 2008.

The fate of L&T’s proposal to set up an alumina-aluminium complex at Kusumsila near Rayagada and Vadrapali near Sambalpur in joint venture with Dubal is still uncertain.

Sources said, the HLCA is yet to consider the Rs 8,250 crore investment proposal of Orissa Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL) to set up a 2000 Mw coal based power plant at Rengali. It is also yet to take up the Lanco Babandh Power’s application to enhance the MoU capacity from 1320Mw to 2640 Mw at Kurunti and Kharagprasad in Dhenkanal district.

The Rs 3101.86 crore proposal of Tata Sponge Iron to set up a 1.5 mtpa steel making capacity at Beliapada near Joda, recommended by the SLSWCA in May this year, is also pending for approval by the chief ministers.

… Though VAL had proposed to expand the capacity of its existing refinery at Lanjigarh from 1 mtpa to 6 mtpa, smelter plant capacity from 0.25 mtpa to 1.6 mtpa and the captive power plant (CPP) capacity from 674 Mw to 1350 Mw with a combined investment of Rs 37,440 crore, it was cleared in part by the SLSWCA.

The SLSWCA meeting held in May this year had recommended for a smelter capacity of 0.5 mtpa as the company had already achieved this level while approving the capacity expansion of the CPP to 1350 Mw without any increase in the refinery capacity.

Similarly, Hindalco Industries Ltd (Aditya Aluminium) had proposed to expand its alumina refinery capacity to 1.5 mtpa from 1 mtpa and expansion of its smelting capacity to 0.72 mtpa from 0.26 mtpa along with an increase in the CPP capacity to 1650 Mw from 650 Mw.

SLSWCA has only recommended 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. Partial approval of these proposals was officially attributed to the non-availability of bauxite linkage and pending the final report of the environmental carrying capacity study taken up by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board.

That apart, the SLSWCA in its meeting on 26 August 2009 also recommended two projects of Rs 14,275 crore to HLCA. The Rs 7988 crore proposal of JR Powergen Private Ltd to set up a 1980 Mw power plant at Kishorenagar near Angul and BRG Energy Systems’s proposal to set up a 1320 Mw power plant at an investment of Rs 6287 crore at Bhapur in Nayagarh district are yet to be approved by HLCA.