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Following is extracted from a report in sify.com.

Maytas Infra Ltd (MIL) is an infrastructure development, construction and project management company with more than two decades of experience in execution of complex & challenging landmark projects across the country. The company recently forayed into segments such as airports, seaports, oil and gas pipelines. MIL plans to diversify into new verticals like mining and related activities, manufacture of construction material and providing advisory & consultancy services.

… MIL’s new projects include railway siding project for Vedanta Industries in Orissa, Chennai MT Project & Hyderabad MRTS project.

… Its current projects include Vedanta Aluminium’s, Residential Township in Orissa worth Rs. 232.7 crore …

… MIL in JV with other firms is currently working on setting up 464MW Gas based Gautami Power project in AP, 100MW Sorang Hydro Power Project in Himachal Pradesh, 300MW KVK Nilachal thermal power project in Orissa and 56MW coal washery reject based SV Power project.

 

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The NSC has transformed itself from the usual non-profit-earning PSU into a vibrant entity.

Private sector seed companies have, till now, had a virtual monopoly over the production and sale of seeds, mostly hybrid seeds, of high-value crops. This was chiefly because the public sector seed producers, besides being fewer in number, remained focused right from the beginning on the production of seeds of low-value but high-volume crops (basically cereals), where profits were low though the quantities to be handled were large. Besides, public sector units (PSUs) made little attempt to keep pace with time.

However, the much-needed change in the public seed sector is coming about now with the largest player, the National Seeds Corporation (NSC), adopting a corporate culture and deploying state-of-the-art technology to produce seeds even of high-value crops and hybrids.

Indeed, as could be expected, this change in the work culture has transformed the NSC from the usual non-profit-earning PSU into a vibrant entity striving to find a place among the mini-Ratnas, if not the Navratnas. The headquarters of the NSC and four of its regional units in Bhopal, Jaipur, Secunderabad and Bangalore, have already acquired the ISO 9001-2000 certificate and the remaining regional units are in the process of doing so.

… Indeed, the man behind this incredible transformation is the present chairman and managing director B B Pattanaik." I would be able to declare a much higher dividend for the current year, "asserts an enthusiastic Pattanaik. He has not only motivated the aging employees of this 45-year-old corporation for better performance but has also taken several new initiatives to be in a position to rub shoulders with the well-run private sector seed companies, many of which now have business tie-ups with the NSC.

… The NSC’s tissue culture unit with a capacity to churn out annually about two lakh test tube-raised plantlets for propagation of the banana is coming up in Bhubaneswar and may become operational by the next month. For research and development back-up, the NSC gets support from the vast agricultural research network of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the state agriculture universities. This helps the NSC to add, on an average, around 20 new varieties and hybrids to its product range every year.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

IT consulting firm MindTree Consulting Ltd would the start construction of its proposed development centre here from April, official sources said.

MindTree Consulting is one of the four major firms which had proposed investment in Orissa’s IT sector, the others being Genpact Limited, ICICI Eastern Regional Hub and Wipro Limited.

According to Orissa’s Information Technology Minister S N Patro, MindTree Consulting Limited had proposed to invest nearly Rs 200 crore in its project here.

"While Wipro will invest Rs 100 crore in its project, ICICI Eastern Regional Hub proposes to spend Rs 500 crore here," the Minister said, adding that Genpact had proposed to invest Rs 200 crore.

Ecotourism plan for Balianta and Balipatna near Bhubaneswar:

The first RTP is in Hyderabad. Both RTPs will have a relationship with the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) in Hyderabad. (New indian Express also reports on this.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard. (See also the report in Financial Express.)

Mumbai-based realty major Raheja group will be investing around Rs 3000 1000 crore for the development of the first information technology (IT) park in Orissa.

Alongside, a 50 Mw power plant, cold storage in the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode and a hotel would also be set up by the group. The group also plans to enter the retail space and set up an IT development centre after surveying the potential.

The park would be christened Mindspace cum Techno-campus Park. The group already has such Mindspace cum techno-campus parks in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

… As per the presentation, in the first phase an incubation centre on 30-40 acres would be developed. The entire IT park would come up over 100 acres.

The plan envisages development of the park within the next 8-10 months, provided land is made available by the Orissa government in the next couple of months.

Following is from Samaja.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Paradip Petrochemicals & Petroleum Investment Region (PCPIR), which has raced ahead to become one of the five fast track projects, is expected to attract a total investment to the tune of Rs 2.75 lakh crore.

The IL&FS, the consultant for the Orissa project, Monday gave a presentation to the senior officials of the state government about the development of the project. The presentation was witnessed by chief secretary, Ajit Kumar Tripathy, development commissioner RN Bohidar, industries secretary Ashok Dalwai, commerce & transport principal secretary Priyabrata Patnaik, special secretary Guru Ray, IDCO managing director Vishal Dev, among other senior officials.

The IL&FS vice-president, Anil Goel, said that the Orissa project, which was lagging behind, has made good progress during the last two months. According to him, the project is now at par with the projects proposed at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Dahej in Gujarat and Mangalore in Karnataka. He said that the project has been highly appreciated by the Centre.

Goel, who was accompanied by his Orissa head Manoj Panda, said that the project, which will come up over an area of 28,500 hectare at Paradip, will have Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) Rs 26,000 crore petrochemical complex as anchor tenant. Besides the IOC investments, the project will attract investment to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore in township, housing and allied sectors, Rs 15,275 crore in external infrastructures like port, airport, cargo complex, road, while Rs 2.30 lakh crore will come in the hardcore industries of the petrochemical sectors. He said the investments would be by the private corporate houses, public sector undertakings, and in the mode of BOOST and PPP.

Following is Samaja’s take on it.

Following is  from a report in New Indian Express.

Raijharan area of Chhendipada near here where power grade coal is available just eight feet below would soon become a major coal producing area of the state. The coal rich area called "Utkal block" has attracted both private and public sector companies to open up open cast coalmines. The block has been divided into seven parts named Utkal-A, B1, B2, C, D, E and F.

According to district official sources there are about 900 million tonne deposit in the area. This is for the first time that private coal producers are going to open up mines in the area which come under Talcher coalfield.

As per the latest in formations available, Utkal-B1 block has been allotted to Jindal Steel and Power Limited in the year 2003 as a captive coal mine while B2 block went for Monnet Ispat &Power limited in 1998. The block C has been allocated to IMFA group may 1998 while Block F came under Tata Spong Iron Limited of keonjhar in 2006.

Orisa Mining Corporation got block D while block E has been given to Nalco for captive mining in August 2004. AS regards to Utkal block A the union Coal ministry has allotted it to public sector Mahanadi Coalfield Limited and four other companies including Jindal stainless limited. The block A was earlier allotted to Kalinga Power Corporation in 1996 which was to set up a power plant at kalinga nagar.

But when the company moved away from setting up the plant there the allotment was cancelled and given to MCL and four companies . All the coal blocks except Utkal D are captive coal mines for power plants. .Utkal D though is owned by OMC will be developed and mined by a private company called Kalinga Coal mining private Limited.( KCMPL).

It is in an advanced stage other than these companies to begin production by December if all goes well. It has successfully acquired all the required land by now without any trouble.As per the records of the district office here 4 (1) notifications for all the coal producers except Nalco and Utkal have been done. Monnet Ispat and Energy which is setting up a steel and power plant along with the coal mine is acquiring private lands on direct purchase basis.

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) which opening a captive mine is also progressing well on the acquisition matters after the meeting of its chief Navin Jindal with state chief minister Section 7(1) of its land acquisition in under progress.

As regards to the environmental clearance all but Nalco got the clearance from the union ministry of Forest and Environment. TATA also did not have the clearance but its case is different as it got the block in last year while Nalco got in 2004.

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

Satkosia gorge sanctuary located in the heart of the State is unique in more than one way. River Mahanadi has cut right across the Eastern ghats endowing the gorge with all its beauty.

The 22 km long gorge divides the area into two distinct parts accessible from Angul and Nayagarh or Boudh. It covers four districts of Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh and is the second largest sanctuary of Orissa.

The areas support moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forests and moist peninsular sal forests and a largely bamboo species.

Wild animals like the Royal Bengal Tiger, Leopard, elephant, four horned antelope, giant squirrel, wild dogs, nilgai, sloth bear, mouse deer, spotted deer etc are the pride of the sanctury.

A huge variety of resident and migratory birds and reptile species (gharial, mugger, crocodile, fresh water turtle, poisonous and non poisonous snakes etc) are also a part of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is home to 400 plant species, 38 mammals, 31 reptiles in the sanctuary. Satkosia gorge was declared a sanctuary in 1976 AD by the State Government under Section 18 of Wildlife (protection) Act 1972. Its area is 795.52 sq km.

The sanctuary is managed by two wildlife divisions, south part by Mahanadi Wildlife Division at Nayagarh and north by Satkosia Wildlife Division at Angul. Both Satkosia Gorge and Baisipalli sanctuary area of 1038 sq.km were declared elephant reserves in 2002 by the State Government. Satkosia also enjoys the status of a Tiger Reserve after being the title in December 2007 after an approval of the Central Tiger Conservation Authority as per Wildlife Protection Act (amendment 2006).

Now, request would also be put forth to declare it a bio-sphere reserve for its biodiversity and abundant natural resources. Former Central Environment amd Forest Minister Kamalnath initiated to declare as Bio-sphere reserve.

About 133 villages in the sanctuary, including three forest villages and 10 hamlets. In The buffer zone as many as 128 villages are located.

The village people mostly depended on forest for their livelihood but the ban enforced by the Government on forest work and collection of NTFP and forest produces as per direction of Supreme Court and Wildlife Protection Act.

No developmental work is being done inside the sanctuary for a long time. The recent declaration of Satkosia as the second tiger reserve was long over due. It would not only go a long way in protecting the tiger population but also take care of other rare animals on the verge of extinction.

State government should spare no time in implementation of the reserve process by making an action plan and constituting an authority as required. Now in the Tiger Reserve 18 Royal Bengal Tiger, 34 Leopard and 194 elephants.

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

… The coal rich Angul district alone shared 8050 mw out of these projected power generation. The figure may go up if Reliance Power Limited and Lanco Power who have also evinced interest to set up power plants, go for it.

Besides, there would be another 1900 mw power generation in the district for captive purposes. The district, virtually, is slated to be the power house not only of State but also of the nation as hardly any district in India would have so much of power generation capacity when these projects would go on stream.

The independent power producers are Jindal photo (2000 mw), Mahanadi Aban Power Limited (1050 mw), Bhusan Power Limited (2000), ESSSAR Power (2000 mw), Tata Sponge (1000 mw). All these are in very infant stages.

While Mahanadi Aban and Jindal photo would get their power plants set up at Talcher, the remaining producers will have their ventures at Angul area.

Besides these, steel producers like Jindal Steel and Power Limited would set up its 900 mw of captive power plant while Monnet Ispat will go for 1000 mw of power plant at Angul.

This would be the additional capacity generation of power in the district in addition to the existing generation capacity of 4500 mw of two NTPC and one Nalco captive power plant.

While at Kaniha, NTPC has 3000 mw super thermal power plant, it has another 460 mw plant at Talcher also. Nalco also has a power plant of installed capacity of 840 mw while another 220 mw addition is under way under the expansion.

Taking into account this current capacity, the total capacity of the district in coming years would be around 14000 mw. If Reliance and Lanco come, this figure will go up further.

Most of these upcoming power producers will have their own captive coal mines. Some of them got allotment while others are waiting.

Angul district unlike others is conducive for power plants because of availabity two key infrastructural bases. These are coal and water.

… but how far the area, already extremely polluted, could sustain such power generation on such a massive scale. Environmentalists fear the Talcher and Angul area which is experiencing 50 degree Celsius in summer could be led to catastrophe unless massive forestations and anti-heating measures are not taken right now on a long term basis.

A concrete environmental management plan should and must be in place along side of these power plants, environmentalists asserted.

Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Hindu.

Kalinganagar: MESCO Steel Group plans to invest $2.8 billion (over Rs 1,000 crore) to expand its existing steel making capacity and set up a greenfield project that would together take its total capacity to 6.5 million tonnes per annum. MESCO, which owns Mideast Integrated Steel Ltd (MISL), would enhance its existing pig iron plant here into a 3.5 million tonnes steel plant with an investment of $1.2 billion, company’s Managing Director Rita Singh told reporters here.

Ms Singh said that the company would pump in $1.5-1.6 billion through joint venture route in setting up a greenfield steel plant here. The project is likely to be finalised within 2-3 months.

"We have already acquired 800 acres of land for this greenfield steel plant,” she said, adding that this project would be set up by MESCO Kalinga Steel. Both these projects would be completed by 2010-11, she said. The funds for these projects would be arranged through suppliers credit and cash equity.

… MESCO, which has become debt free recently, is also planning to ramp up its pig iron production from the current 4 lakh tonnes to 7 lakh tonnes by 2008-09. The products would be utilised by its steel plants, she said. – PTI

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

In all, there are 14 aquariums spread over 0.8 acre. Among them four house marine species and the rest freshwater species equipped with titanium chiller.

All the aquariums are equipped with `insitu’ filtration and recycling mechanism. In fact, two large size aquariums measure 3.5 meters in length and 0.9 meter in width. Attractions include well-researched education materials on aquaria, said zoo director Ajit Patnaik, adding, the materials are displayed on trans-slides boards.

One of the key objectives of the endeavour is to educate visitors about the rising pollution and the resultant impact on the aquatic life. About Rs 10 lakh alone has been invested on education materials.

There is also a special section which depicts the uniqueness of the marine ecosystem of the State. One of the freshwater aquariums represents fish fauna of the adjoining Kanjia lake.

The `moated’ enclosure has been developed over an area of five acres to provide a near-natural ambience to the elephants. The enclosure encompasses components like natural vegetation, water hole and adequate space for the movement of the animals.

The enclosure would stimulate their natural behaviour. Further, they will provide adequate opportunity to the visitors to watch the elephants literally in wild, Patnaik said. An elevation point has been put up to ensure better viewing.

Following is culled from various sources, including Samaja and Pioneer. The 11 projects that have been cleared or partially cleared are:

1. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd’s proposed power plant in Sundargarh. An investment of Rs 18,000 crore has been made for the project which will produce 3,200 megawatt of power.
2. Proposed Air Separation unit factory by British Oxygen which will come up at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district. It will produce 1800 tons of oxygen daily. It will need 15 acres of land and will invest 838 crores.
3. Jindal Stainless Ltd’s Rs 4,090 crore proposed power plant. The project will come up at Gajamara in Dhenkanal. The power plant will produce 1,000 megawatt.
4. Aarti Steel’s Rs 2,065 crore power plant at Ghantakhal in Athagarha
5. Salivahan Green Energy Ltd’s power project at Nimidha in Dhenkanal
6. Hind Metal and Industries Pvt Ltd (HMIL) Rs 237.10 crore plant at Meramunduli in Dhenkanal
7. Kalinga Energy and Power Ltd’s Rs 4261.27 crore project at Babuchakuli in Sambalpur
8. JSW Energy Ltd’s Rs9189.7 crore project at Chiplima in Sambalpur
9. Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd’s Rs 4993.98 crore project at Siaria in Dhenkanal
10. Ind Barath Energy Ltd (IBEL)’s Rs1007.69 crore power plant at Banaharpali in Jharsuguda.
11. Expansion of Balasore alloys.