___________

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Following are excerpts from a report in Pioneer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Thanks to Jagmohan Swain for the pointer.)

Following are excerpts from an April 2011 ASSOCHAM PLACEMENT PATTERN report titled "Tier II and Tier III cities Emerging as the New Job Creation Basket in 2011-2012" by Ravish Jaggi.

Out of the total 56 cities that were tracked by the Assocham Placement Pattern (APP), Tier II and Tier III cities have cornered 38.8 per cent (total 17 cities Tier II cities) and 23 per cent (total 33 Tier III cities) share of the job space respectively in the financial year 2010-11. Whereas Tier I cities, mainly Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have emerged as the fastest job generating cities in India during the past couple of years. During the FY 2011, estimated 2,49,779 number of jobs were created by fuelling a growth of 38.2 per cent over the corresponding period of last year.

In 2010-11 about 2,53,702 jobs were created in Tier II cities, which recorded a growth of 38.8 per cent over the corresponding period of last fiscal. Majorly 1,89,756 employment ware generated in Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Surat in the last one year.

During 2010-2011, Tier III cities showed a growth of 23 per cent on account of 1,50,391 job creations. Allahabad, Udaipur, Agra, Ajmer, Kota and Meerut are the major cities among the tier III cities which showed a high growth in job placements.

Tier I cities:

Among the Tier I cities Delhi-NCR and Mumbai recorded highest share in providing job opportunities with 39 per cent and 13.8 per cent share in total job creation respectively. As compared to the April-March 2009-10, Delhi/ NCR registered growth of 15.3 per cent in job creation whereas Mumbai registered 11.1 per cent growth in job creation during April-March 2010-11.

Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have 9.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 4 per cent share in total job creations in Tier I cities. Hyderabad and Kolkata registered growth of 10 per cent and 7.3 per cent during FY 11 over FY 10. Bangalore and Chennai registered growth of 5.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent share in total job creation respectively, during FY 11.

Tier II cities

As per the analysis of the study, 17 major Tier II cities recorded highest growth of 38.8 per cent share in total employment generation. Among the Tier II cities during FY 11, Bhubaneshwar and Pune recorded 42.2 per cent and 19.7 per cent growth in job creation as compared to same period of last year.

Among the other major tier II cities Chandigarh, Lucknow and Surat recorded growth of 12.2 per cent, 10.8 per cent and 8.8 per cent share in total job creation during the analyzed period.

Other tier II cities which showed growth in employment generation during April to March 2010-11 over the previous year were Jaipur (6.68 per cent), Vishakhapatnam (5.5 per cent), Indore (4.33 per cent), Nagpur (4 per cent), Cochin (3.35 per cent), Ludhiana (3.28 per cent), Bhopal (2.21 per cent), Amritsar (2.13 per cent) and Gwalior (2 per cent).

Tier III cities

The analysis of the tier III cities shows that 18 cities out of 33 cities registered a heavy growth in job creation during FY 11 as compared to the same period of the last year. The 33 major tier III cities accounted for 23 per cent share in total employment generation during the period. Among the tier III cities, Allahabad, Udaipur, Agra, Ajmer and Kota are top leading cities which recorded major growth of 69.6 per cent, 62.5 per cent 60.9 per cent, 49.3 per cent and 45.6 per cent during the period respectively. As compared to the same period of last year, Meerut and Kanpur registered 38.5 per cent and 26.8 per cent growth.

Whereas majorly Tier III cities, which registered decline in job creation during April-March 2010-11 as compared to the same period of 2009-10 were Shillong (64.2 per cent), Dhanbad (34.6 per cent), Hoshiarpur (27.8 per cent), Ambala (24.2 per cent), Vijayawada (18.7 per cent), Jalandhar (13 per cent) and Raipur (12.8 per cent).

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Taiwan … has identified food processing, electronics, textiles, agri-business and IT hardware as the potential areas of investment in Orissa.

… Besides, the nation also intends to build educational tie-ups with KIIT and other premier universities of the state, he added.

"Our objective is to examine the investment potential of Orissa which has been quite successful in attracting investments. We believe that the areas of investment for the Taiwanese companies in the state are food processing, electronics, IT hardware, agri-business and textiles. The companies from Taiwan can explore possibilities of setting up manufacturing facilities for cell phones, refrigerators and computers in the state. Our investments would be relatively smaller compared to the likes of Posco and IBM nonetheless important because of the focus on job creation”, said Ong.

"We are keen on having tie-ups with the universities of Orissa. There is a good potential for collaboration between the universities of Orissa and Taiwan. We are also looking at the possibility of sea food imports from Orissa. Last year, Taiwan had imported $400-500 million of sea food from US, Canada and Australia”, he added.

Ong is scheduled to call on the state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday and hold discussions on opportunities for the Taiwanese investors in the state.

"We are looking at job generation capacity and the we’ll see how many jobs can be created by the Taiwanese companies in Orissa. However, we are not interested in investing in steel and aluminium sectors”, he stated.

Asked on the visit of the Taiwanese business delegation to Orissa, Ong said, “I’ll go to Taiwan and persuade some Taiwanese companies to visit Orissa. However, the timing of the visit of the delegation from Taiwan would depend on the conducive atmosphere created by the state. Its going to be competition for Orissa with other states where we have already invested”.

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

If talks with the chief minister and senior officials yield positive results, a business delegation from Taiwan would soon visit Orissa with concrete investment proposals, he said. There was a lot of scope for cooperation in tourism sector.

Referring to the Buddhist circuit in Orissa, Ong said religious tourism could be tapped in a big way to increase the flow of Taiwanese tourists to the state.

Similarly, collaborations and ties in education, mainly vocational education, would also be explored, he said adding his country had already proposed scholarships for brilliant Orissa students.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

The Rs 3,200-crore Dhamra Port in Orissa, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is ready and will go operational next month, a top company official said.

Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) has so far invested Rs 2,900-crore out of the total project cost of Rs 3,239-crore and almost 100 per cent work on the project has been completed.

… "We have completed 100 per cent work of the port including the construction work for the 62-kilometer rail link from Dhamra to Bhadrak on the main Howrah-Chennai line," he said.

… Situated between Haldia and Paradip, the port at Dhamra will be the deepest of India with a draught of 18 meters, which can accommodate super cape-size vessels up to 1,80,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT).

DPCL has recently entered into a sister port relationship agreement with the US-based Port of Seattle. The pact is aimed at exchange of information on port users, technology transfer and sharing of best practises between the two ports.

Following is a map from http://www.dhamraport.com/maps.asp.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

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

(Thaks to a reader for the pointer.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Kumar Mangalam Birla-controlled Hindalco Industries plans to produce cans for beverages and food giants such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo from its plant at Hirakud in Orissa. The company has begun dismantling a closed plant of Novelis in Rogerstone, Britain, and intends to ship all key equipment to Hirakud.

The Hirakud expansion for beverage can-making is scheduled to be complete by October next year. “A project is underway for transfer of equipment for flat rolled products from the Novelis plant…this will enable us to produce can body stock for local and export markets,” said the company.

…

Hindalco would be using the plant and technology of Novelis to make cans’ body stock in India for the first time. Novelis is the world’s leading maker of aluminium rolled products, used for making cans.

About 45 per cent of Novelis’ shipment is beverage cans. It produces an estimated 19 per cent of the world’s flat-rolled aluminium products and is the number one producer in Europe, South America and Asia, and the second-largest in North America. It is also the world leader in the recycling of used aluminum beverage cans.

At Hirakud, the aluminium maker has a smelter capacity of 155 kilo tonnes per annum (ktpa). It is expanding this to 213 ktpa and building a 100-Mw captive power generation capacity. Expansion to 161 ktpa will be completed by July this year and the rest will be commissioned in October 2012.

Land acquisition for the expansion has been completed and statutory clearances obtained. The technology agreement has been finalised with GAMI. Equipment has started arriving at the site and erection begun, said the company in a recent investor presentation.

See also this article in Economic Times.

This is really great news. Odisha needs and should go after more and more downstream industries.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q: … hence the uncertainty continues?

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

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

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The implementation of the proposed Information Technology (IT) investment region in Orissa will involve a cost of Rs 17,883 crore.

"The IT investment region would generate jobs for 0.23 million people and accommodate a population of around 0.54 million. More than 75 per cent of the investment will be made on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode”, an official source told Business Standard.

The state government has already submitted the final report on the proposed IT investment region prepared by IL&FS-Infrastructure Development Corporation (IL&FS-IDC) to the Government of India …

The IT investment region (ITIR) in Orissa is to be developed on an area of 40 sq km (around 10,000 acres) between Bhubaneswar and Khurda. The ITIR project is expected to be fully operational by 2020.

In the final project report on the ITIR, IL&FS-IDC had included among other things an airport, a global IT training centre, a bio-tech park and a science city spread over 350 acres. …

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

Following are links to earlier postings on this.

• Planning commission has given in principle approval for an ITIR in Odisha August 05th, 2010 
• Update on IT plans for Bhubaneswar July 27th, 2010
• Update on Infocity 2 in Bhubaneswar September 07th, 2009
• Proposed IT Investment region around Bhubaneswar July 28th, 2009
• Bhubaneswar ITIR of 40 sq km : IL & FS to prepare DPR July 10th, 2008

Thanks to reader Jitu for the pointers.

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

Nikon India, the 100% subsidiary of Nikon Corporation the leaders in imaging technology has started Nikon Collection Centre (NCC), an initiative taken by Nikon India to cater to the wider base of Nikon customers by floating Camera Collection Points across locations, especially the non metro areas.

… The collection centres would act as main contact point for collection of any Nikon Imaging Products ( D-SLR’s, COOLPIX Compact cameras, NIKKOR lenses and accessories) that shall be sent for repair to the nearest Service Facility Centre for necessary correction by NCC. Once repaired, the product will be sent back to NCC from where customer can collect his product. 

 

Under the plan for the business year 2010-2011, Nikon has already started the services in Bhopal, Noida & Mangalore. Going forward Nikon plans to start the services in Siliguri, Dehradun, Kanpur, Nagpur, Mysore and Tiruanantpuram within this month and Dhampur, Sambalpur, Udaipur, Varanasi, Shimla, Aitsar, Jammu, Agra, Coimbatore, Vishakapatnam and Rajkot taking the total to 20 by the end of this financial year.

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

IBM has chalked out plans to expand its business development processes to smaller cities in the country over the next couple of years. The company plans to spread its footprint to 45 cities of India. At present, a large part of the company’s business comes from the metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

“Business activities of small and medium business enterprises are increasing at a fast pace in smaller cities of the country and it is logical for us to expand our footprint across the country,” said Nipun Mehrotra, vice president, general business, IBM India and South Asia. He said with the growth of Indian economy, the small and medium enterprises would flourish and opportunities would increasingly come up in cities such as Ranchi, Ludhiana, Tirupur and Jharsuguda, among others.

Following is from http://eylex.co.in/Pages/Sambalpur.aspx. The mall in Sambalpur is promoted by K.K. Homes (a local Developer of Sambalpur) and will have a three screen multiplex with 800 seats. Its target Operational date is March 2011.

Following is the picture from http://eylex.co.in/Pages/Jharsugda.aspx.

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

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

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

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

Following is from a report in DNA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Following is from Dharitri.

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

As per the Assocham Investment Meter (AIM) assessment report for corporate investments across states and sectors, total investment plans of India Inc. increased significantly from Rs. 7,971,464 crore in 2009 to Rs. 10,097,472 crore during the period of April-September, 2010. Among the 20 major states Gujarat, Maharashtra and Orissa carved out a majority share of 13.2 per cent, 11.4 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.

… Among the top investment attracting states, Gujarat remains on the top registering the highest share of 13.2 per cent in domestic investment plans during the period of April-September, 2010. The state witnessed Rs. 1,330,743 crore worth of capex plans which are 17.3 per cent higher as compared to the total investment realized in the state during the past year. Also, the state attracted majority of investment plans in the power, manufacturing and services sectors.

Similarly, Maharashtra stood at second position registering growth of 19.3 per cent (Y-o-Y) and 13.2 per cent share of the total investments made during April-September 2010-11. The state attracted whopping investments plans of Rs. 1,154,197 crore during the said period. The Services and Real Estate were the prominent among the sectors that attracted majority share of the investments.

The availability of rich mineral resources such as coal and iron ore along with cheap availability of manpower helped Orissa to rank amongst the top three states in attracting corporate investments.

The state was ranked third on investment radar with total planned investments stood at Rs. 1,134,716 crore during the H1 period of FY’11. The state recorded a hike of about 20.0 per cent in overall investments over the previous year. Among the sectors Manufacturing and Power companies have received the major proportion of the investments.

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh stood at fourth and fifth position by attracting investment plans worth Rs. 915,060 crore and Rs. 866,776 crore respectively during in H1 of 2010.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

After stopping bauxite mining in Orissa the government now finds itself in a bind on the issue of rehabilitation in Lanjigarh. Corporate-backed developmental activities in the tribal region, one of the most backward places in the country, have come to a standstill following the environment ministry’s ban on mining.

The Anil Agarwal-controlled Sterlite Industries had been ordered by the Supreme Court in August 2008 to spend about 5% of its profit for development activity at Lanjigarh.

Since the environment ministry in August 2010 had barred mining, the rehabilitation package which includes about Rs 10 crore of annual development activity including the building of roads, schools and hospitals, has now been stopped.

"If disbursement from the development fund were to continue, it would imply approval of mining which would be contrary to the ministry’s order," said one person directly involved in the developmental work. On August 30, 2010, the ministry of environment and forests issued a notice barring bauxite mining in Niyamgiri on grounds of violation of environmental norms.

According to the same person quoted earlier, if the government asks Sterlite to stop developmental activity it would amount to contempt of court as it would go against the Supreme Court directive.

"Under our order we suggested rehabilitation package under which Sterlite Industries is required to deposit 5% of annual profits before tax and interest from Lanjigarh project or Rs 10 crore per annum whichever is higher," said the Supreme Court order. "The said project covers both mining and refining. The amount is required to be deposited by Sterlite Industries every year commencing from April 1, 2007. For the above reasons, we hereby grant clearance to the forest diversion proposal," read the order dated August 8, 2008.

… Among the projects which have been left uncertain include a Rs 3 crore hospital and a Rs 1.8 crore tribal school upgradation in the Lanjigarh block.

I hope the central government will consider paying this lost amount of 10 crores/year for developmental activities in that area.

Following is an excerpt from gujaratmoney.com.

… in the GSDP(Gross State Domestic Product) growth projected by the country’s apex finance panel-13th Finance Commission for next five years(from 2010-11 to 2014-15) in the country after Goa(in the first position) and Orissa(2nd position).

The panel has projected that Gujarat’s GSDP will grow in next five years at average 12.46%(projection based on the base year 2007-08) while the highest growth has been projected for Goa(13.06%) and Orisssa(12.63%). While others states to grow at 12% plus are Haryana(12.30%) and Chattisgarh(12.28%). The other states which are projected to grow at 11% plus are Jharkhand(11.5%), Assam(11.32%) and Meghalaya(11.9%).

States with 10% plus growth projections are Karnatka(10.53%), Rajasthan(10.33%), Kerala and Himachal Pradesh(10.30%), Jammu & Kashmir(10.25%), Uttrakhand(10.17%) West Bengal(10.04%) and Andhra Pradesh(10.03%). Maharashtra, Taminadu and others state are expected to grow at 9% or below that.

Though projections have been made for Gujarat in top three GSDP growth states but the incremental growth(year to year improvement) rate has been projected as one of the lowest. For the same period incremental growth of Gujarat has been projected at 2.04% while for Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh its has been projected at 4.57, 4.46, 4.47, 4.24, 4.20 and UP 4.01% respectively.

One needs to worry about the negative impact of the anti-growth and anti-Odisha agenda of the prince of Congress and the environment ministry. The PM is a saving grace; but if the prince takes over then Odisha as well as India are doomed.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=68211.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Government of Orissa to set up a Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) in Paradeep. This is the fourth PCPIR which has been approved after PCPIRs in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal.

A total investment of about ` 277,734 crore is expected in the Orissa Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (OPCPIR), which includes a committed investment of ` 29,777 crore. The proposal envisages development of physical infrastructure such as roads, rail, air links, ports, water supply, power etc. at a cost of ` 13,634 crore. The PCPIR policy prescribes that infrastructure will be created/upgraded through Public Private Partnerships to the extent possible and Central Government will provide the necessary Viability Gap Funding (VGF). Accordingly, Government of Orissa (GoO) has sought support from Government of India involving a commitment  of 716 crore on account of VGF funding for one port and three road-related projects.

The total employment generation from the OPCPIR is expected to be about 6.48 lakh persons comprising direct employment to 2.27 lakh persons.

The PCPIR policy is a window to ensure the 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 idea is to ensure the setting up of industrial estates in a planned manner with a view to achieve synergies and for value added manufacturing, research and development.

The Government of Orissa proposes to set up a PCPIR at Paradeep extending over parts of Kujang and Ersama blocks of Jagatsinghpur district and Mahakalpada and Marsaghai blocks of Kendrapara district.

The State Government proposes to implement the Orissa Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (OPCPIR) under the Orissa Development Authorities Act, 1982, which is an existing State law. The State Government proposes to constitute the Greater Orissa Paradeep Development Authority as the authority in charge of the development of the Paradeep PCPIR.

The delineated region has a strong industrial base with major processing activities at present including Paradeep Phosphates Ltd., IFFCO’s Fertiliser Plant, Essar Steel Plant, Goa Carbons (Paradeep Carbons Ltd), Paradeep Port etc.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) has been identified as the Anchor Tenant for the Orissa PCPIR. IOCL signed a MoU with GoO in 2004 for setting up a 15 MMTPA grassroot refinery at Paradeep in the first phase at a cost of ` 29,777 crore. The Refinery is likely to be commissioned by March 2012 and should be fully stabilized by November 2012. The Refinery will have a Crude and vacuum Distillation Unit, a Hydrocracking Unit, a Delayed Coker Unit and other secondary processing facilities. It will also have an Integrated Gassification Combined Cycle Plant for production of steam, power and hydrogen from petroleum coke for captive use in the refinery at the cost of about ` 935 crores. A petrochemical complex will be set up at a later date depending on the market conditions.

A Preliminary Environment Assessment Report (EIA) has been conducted. The State Government will carry out a detailed EIA as per the EIA notification.

****

VBA/SH/LV

Earlier some news papers had reported that with the Cairn’s deal and the upcoming IPO of Sterlite Anil Agarwal may become the richest Indian and among the 5 richest in the world. Considering his interest in Odisha (for now in Kalahandi, Jharsuguda and Puri) it is important to know about what he has in mind. An interview is a better medium than articles and propaganda pieces. So here is an excerpt from his interview to CNBC as given in moneycontrol.com.

Q: Let me talk about the other controversy that you are currently dealing with and that is with your Lanjigarh refinery where the ministry of environment or the center has said that you violated environmental norms, you did not have appropriate clearances before you went ahead and actually began construction and your expansion there. You have of course refuted all of these allegations, you have responded to the government showcause notice to you. There was a committee that actually setup, and the committee also said that you flouted the environment norms. is it the end of the road as far as your Lanjigarh expansion plans are concerns? Are you feeling more confident? Have you spoken with Jairam Ramesh? Do you intend speaking with Jairam Ramesh to present your case?

A: Let’s look at the overall picture. This is a story of aluminium. We are in a natural position to produce aluminum which is green metal which is required for human development on a day to day basis. China produces 22 million tonne of aluminium against the 1.5 million tonne that we produce.

In seeing that Rs 45,000 crore has already been invested in the aluminium sector and we are producing aluminium and we are running this plant very well. Now to produce aluminium we need bauxite. That’s a fundamental (requirement) to have bauxite. India has one of the finest and huge reserves of bauxite, of which Orissa has largest bauxite and Lanjigarh area has the largest bauxite and that’s why we setup the plant there.

The intention is that we have already invested the money. At the moment we are buying the bauxite from outside and running the plant which is not natural. We have complied with all the rules. Why would somebody go to Kalahandi and invest USD 2 billion. It’s the most backward area of India. We have gone there and invested on the presumption because here is the bauxite and here development will take place. Lanjigarh and Kalahandi have a different face today.

Q: But the tribal community that is currently based there in the Niyamgiri Hills believes that they don’t want Vedanta, they don’t want your refinery, they don’t want you to mine there. And you’ve had NGO after NGO, you’ve had the Church of England, you have had Bianca Jagger, you have had the Center for Science and Environment, you have had of course the government appointed committee saying that you are in violation of environmental norms. The Center for Science and Environment has gone as far as to say that Vedanta and Anil Agarwal are history sheeters when it comes to environmental violation?

A: You must know that I have used this word not a blade of grass has been moved. What are you talking about violating the norms? Not a blade of grass has been moved on that and that mine isn’t on our name. We were supposed to get the clearance, with the joint venture or the Orissa government was supposed to do and before that this came up. Sometimes I believe that there are vested interests.

Q: You believe this is because of vested interest?

A: I’m just saying because how long India will stop? We have to produce aluminium which is required for our day to day development because thousands of industries are to be developed on the basis of aluminium.

Q: But at the cost of destroying the environment, at the cost of displacing the tribal community that is based there because that’s the allegation?

A: One thing I can tell you as Anil Agarwal, I will never flout. I am more sensitive about our people, our Adivasi people than anybody else. I am more sensitive. Orissa is only bauxite – bauxite – bauxite. We all are working together; we are looking forward to get the bauxite to run our plant.

Q: Is this politics at play? Let me ask you directly do you feel that this is politics at play, that you have gotten caught between the politics of the BJP, the BJD and the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi visited the Niyamgiri region, visited Lanjigarh and said that I am your sipahi in Delhi, I am the tribal community’s sipahi in Delhi. Do you believe that you have gotten caught between the politics of the Congress, the BJP and the BJD?

A: I can tell you that Rahul Gandhi was very clear that he is not against development. He was definitely and we all are with him as far as tribals are concerned. We will make sure that whatever the government policy is and whatever the government wants for the tribal, as far as we are concerned we are not going to touch anything unless it has been completely settled down. But Orissa has huge Bauxite. What you are talking about is may be quarter percent of what they have.

Q: You can shift the location you are saying. That if indeed you were not get clearance as far as mining in this region is concerned you would look at other regions?

A: Because there is only Bauxite. Huge employment will be created; we need aluminium and the 25 years can you believe after Nalco there is no mining which has opened.

Q: Are you going to talk to the Congress, have you reached out to the Congress party? There seems to be a perception that there is some sort of trouble when it comes to the Congress and its relationship with Anil Agarwal, is that a true perception?

A: I don’t have to believe because everything has been done. What you are seeing what has not happened. What you are not seeing is what has happened. We have invested almost USD 20 billion in India, created huge employment, paying huge income tax. There is no reason to believe that government is not with us. Otherwise they will never do it.

But when the question comes of tribals we are with them. When it comes to Cairn Energy I am giving them enough, if there is anything which we can do to take the country into the next level. So if you look at our credentials, we have worked with the government all the time and we have got all our clearances for our power plant, for our aluminum plant.

Q: Jairam Ramesh doesn’t seem to think so?

A: He has given 50 clearances to us, except these two clearances. I am just thinking 40–50 clearance must have come through him.

Q: So what is the problem with these two clearances you think because you continue to believe that you have done everything as far as getting the environmental clearances are concerned, that you have not flouted any norms, why do you believe that we have reached this point where you have been asked not to construct further, not to expand further, there is a status quo as far as your plans for Lanjigarh are concerned?

A: We are in democratic country, we are not in China. When something is there somebody has to address and we all are addressing jointly because my agenda is not different than the government’s. We live in a democratic country and we have to take our society with us.

If you look at it, aluminium is very important metal and we have to make sure that a couple of million tonne of aluminium is added to our country.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government has decided to undertake 14 projects on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode involving an expenditure of Rs 6,218.02 crore.

A total of 46 projects, to be taken up on the PPP mode, are under the consideration of the state government, A U Singhdeo, minister for Planning & Coordination said in the state assembly.

… The Infocity-II project, one of the major PPP projects, being planned over 600 acres of land at Janla on the outskirts of the city, has gathered some steam after being marred by inordinate delay.

As part of its commitment to expedite this project, the state government has set in motion the process to prepare Request for Qualification (RFQ) for this project.

"An empowered committee of the state industries department has been asked to oversee the bidding process of the Infocity-II project. The RFQ is currently being prepared. The land acquisition for the project has been already completed and environment clearance has been obtained. The state government has also submitted an application to the Government of India for Special Economic zone (SEZ) notification for the project,” the minister said.

The other notable projects in the information technology sector taken up on the PPP mode are Mindspace IT Park involving a cost of Rs 480 crore, the DLF Infopark project entailing an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore and an IT & Corporate Tower being taken up at Chandrasekharpur at a cost of Rs 140 crore.

In the tourism sector, the Empowered Committee on Infrastructure (ECI) has approved the revised Request for Proposal (RFP) for selecting the master developer for the Shmauka beach tourism project being taken up at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore on around 3,000 acres of land at Sipasarubali near Puri.

In the road transport sector, the High Level Clearance Authority of the state government has approved a proposal to seek Viability Gap Fund (VGF) assistance for the four-laning of the Sambalpur-Rourkela road involving a cost of Rs 1,483 crore.

For the Koira-Tensa-Lahunipara road in Keonjhar district, involving an implementation cost of Rs 392.2 crore, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has submitted a draft preliminary report. This project needs 38 per cent VGF as per the toll rates of National Highways Authority of India Ltd (NHAI).

Meanwhile, feasibility study is underway for three other road projects- Shaukati-Dubuna road in Keonjhar district, Tensa-Barsuan-Lahunipara road in Sundergarh district and Chorada-Duburi road in Dhenkanal  Jajpur.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

… Balasore, which has around 70 per cent of the State’s plastic units, would soon turn into a plastic industry hub with this training centre while a plastic park is also in the offing and the work under the Industrial Up-gradation Scheme is in progress. Jena informed that Balasore is very strategically located between two upcoming Petrochemical Investment Regions at Nayachar, Haldia, and Paradip. There is potential for Balasore to be the hub of Plastics Industrial Corridor stretching on the East Coast of India.

Establishment of the APPTC at Balasore would act as a catalyst to stimulate growth of plastic industries in general and plastics processing industries in particular, he said. He said cooperation between the Centre and State is required for development.

State’s Minister of Industries and Steel and Mines Raghunath Mohanty said the APPTC’s intake for this year would be 150 and 100, respectively, for skilled and short-term courses while the full-fledged intake would be 480. The APPTC is being established by the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) on an area of 8 acres of land allotted by the State Government at a cost of `15 crore, which is being shared equally by the Central and State Governments.

Union Secretary of Chemicals & Petrochemicals M Raman informed that a proposal of the State Government to set up a PCPIR at Paradip has been recommended by the high-powered committee and its final approval is expected shortly. The total employment generation from the OPCPIR is expected to be about 6,48,000 persons, comprising of direct employment to 2.27 lakh and indirect employment to 4.21 lakh.

Balasore should also try to take advantage of its proximity to IIT Kharagpur.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Mumbai Angels, an angel investment network, will invest in Kolkata-based milk packaging and distributing company Milk Mantra . The company, which is the latest in the agri sector to catch attention of investors, has already received early stage funding from Avishkar and an angel investor based in the UK.

“The company is planning to introduce fresh milk in cartons for the first time in India. It is a huge opportunity for a market like India where fresh milk is available only in plastic covers, which are not always hygienic.

… “Our aim is to offer direct to home service of fresh milk packed in a more hygienic manner. We have tied up with about 50,000 farmers in Orissa to procure milk. We expect to start business this year and in the initial phase it will be available in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar,” he said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The Indian Air force wants to develop the Charbatia base in Cuttack district into a full-fledged base station.

“I want to see an air base at Charbatia,” Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik told reporters after visiting the base. Presently, Charbatia is an aerial reconnaissance post of the Aviation Research Centre.

Charbatia base, spread over 2000 acres, is now with the Union home ministry. The airstrip came up in the area in the 1960s.

Earlier, Air Marshal J.N. Burma had discussed the issue with chief minister Naveen Patnaik in January, 2010. The Air Marshal had also urged Naveen to recommend to the home ministry to hand over the land to air force.

“Unless the state recommends, the Centre cannot transfer land to the air force,” said an IAF official.

Sources in the state government said the IAF had already given a proposal to the Centre to this effect and wants to invest Rs 5,000 crore in the base.

Revenue divisional commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra said he had already directed the Cuttack district collector to arrange the land for the air base. “They require an additional 600 acres of land. Discussion on the matter is going on,” he said.

Earlier we posted the author’s article in English. This is for the benefit of Odia readers.