Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd is optimistic about commissioning the first phase of the proposed six MTPA steel mill in Orissa’s Angul district by October 2010.
… Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Jindal said that the work for the first phase of the project was progressing well.
The company had already spent Rs 4,000 crore so far for it and has placed an order for equipment for the purpose.
Of its total project cost of Rs 13,135 crore, JSPL had also spent a lot on land, construction, equipment and other activities, he said.
Jindal said JSPL has a small iron ore mine at Tensa in Keonjhar district and is hopeful of getting raw material linkage to its Angul project.
We have been allotted coal block for the requirement of our captive power plant and the steel plant, he added.
He said that the company apprised the chief minister about the progress and made a presentation before him, while seeking the state government’s help in availing new raw material linkage early.
The JSPL which signed an MoU with the state government for setting up a beneficiation plant at Deojhar in Keonjhar district and the Angul steel plant on November 11, 2005, had progressed well besides tackling local problems, he said.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.
The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the decks for Anil Agarwal promoted Vedanta Resources to mine bauxite from the ecologically fragile Niyamgiri hills for its proposed Rs 4,000-crore alumina project at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district.
Vedanta had sought clearance for diversion of 660.749 hectare of forest land for mining purposes to feed its alumina plant.
The special forest bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices Arijit Pasayat and SH Kapadia allowed Sterlite to go ahead with bauxite mining.
The application of Vedanta is allowed, the Supreme Court bench said in a statement.
However, it asked the ministry of environment and forest to proceed in accordance with law.
… Vedanta wants to dig open-cast mines in the Niyamgiri hills located in Kalahandi district near its project area.
Vedanta promoted Sterlite Industries had sought clearance for diversion of 660.749 hectares of forest land for mining purposes to provide required raw material for its plant.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.
The Supreme Court on Friday permitted South Korean steel major Posco to set up Rs 51,000-crore mega steel plant and captive minor port at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.
A special environmental bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan allowed Posco India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Posco, to go ahead with its plans.
With this order, the apex court has also cleared forest diversion proposal for the plant site which require 1253.225 hectares of forest land.
The court, while directing the Orissa government to dispose of all the Posco’s applications seeking prospecting licences within four weeks, also asked the state government to send its recommendations to the ministry of environment and forests that would proceed in accordance with law.
The bench also asked the state government to undertake implementation of compensatory afforestation plan under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee comprising top officials of the state government.
… Posco counsel Mukul Rohtagi contended that the state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation had agreed to supply uninterrupted iron ore and other minerals for its steel project and had identified mines in the western part of the state, some 300 km away from its project site.
… The company can source raw materials on its own and can buy the same from the open market, he said, adding that the company is not dependent on prospecting licence.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.
Laying the foundation stone for the Integrated Sewerage System for Bhubaneswar city at a grand function on Tuesday, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that all measures were taken by the state government to improve infrastructure of the city in an effort to provide basic amenities to people.
Speaking on the occasion, housing and urban development minister KV Singhdeo said that the detailed project report (DPR) of the project was presented to the ministry of urban development, Government of India, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and 12th Finance Commission of Government of India for funding.
Finally, after due approval by the H&UD Department, the project got the financial assistance from different sources, he said, adding, the sewerage system would be developed with the technical assistance from IIT, Roorkee at an estimated cost of Rs 754.23 crore.
… The sewerage system of Bhubaneswar envisages laying of 412 km underground gravity sewer for collection of sewage of each household and establishment throughout the city in uncovered area, replacement and renovation of all existing old sewers, construction of main, intermediate and lift pumping stations, construction of sewage treatment plants and construction of low cost sanitation units in the city area.
The new sewerage system has been planned by diving the city are into six sewerage districts that shall be provided with an independent sewerage network, pumping system, sewage treatment and disposal system.
The sewerage system has been designed for a projected city population of 22 lakh upto 2041.
The project area of 145 sq km includes all wards of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (except wards beyond river Kuakhai) and fringe areas covered under city master plan.
The project will ensure proper treatment of generated sewage in the city area with provision of modern treatment technology like Standard Activates Sludge Process.
The project will provide good and effective sewerage services to the urban population and will reduce non-point sources of pollution. Overall sanitation condition of the city will be improved.
The project has been planned to be implemented by 2011.
The sewer laying work of three districts via sewerage district- I, II and III has been awarded to the East Coast Construction and Industries Ltd, Engineers and Contractors, Chennai through a transparent system.
Following is excerpted from a report in Pragativadi.
According to a preliminary estimation made by the Directorate of Geology, nearly 8 million tonnes (MT) of bauxite was reserved at Ushabali plateau in Kandhmal district. Estimation regarding bauxite reserve in Kandhamal district is preliminary. The volume of reserve could be more, an official said, adding survey work would be extended to nearby areas this year.
The Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) recently reviewed the mineral survey activities taken up the Directorate of Geology to find new reserve, particularly iron ore, which was in demand as the state had signed MoU for setting up of at least 46 steel plants.
The Directorate had completed survey of Hirapur area in Nabarangpur district for iron ore deposits and had also undertaken fresh surveys in Joda, Badbil in Keonjhar and Daitari in Jajpur.
Though the directorate had completed iron ore survey work by using drilling method at Tensa area of Sundargarh district, the findings were under study, sources said.
Similarly, the survey had also concluded that small diamond reserve could be traced at Dharamabandha and Nangalbod area of Nuapada district where the precious metal was found along with stones.
… the state government signing three fresh MoUs for setting up units, taking the total proposed capacity of output to 75.66 mtpa, involving a total investment of nearly Rs 2,00,000 crore, official sources said.
With this, the number of MoUs for establishment of steel units touched 49, including 11 for mega projects. Besides MoUs with the largest steel maker in the world Arcelor-Mittal and South Korean gaint Posco, the government had signed agreements with domestic firms such as Jindal, Tata Steel and others for mega projects.
All the MoUs were signed during the last six years, they said, adding 26 steel projects had already become partially operational while the mega ones were facing land acquisition problem.
The production capacity so far achieved by these companies was 3.96 mtpa in sponge iron, 0.45 mtpa of pig iron and 3.32 mtpa of steel, besides 308 mw captive power plant.
said the three companies would produce one million tonne of steel per annum.
The companies which signed MoUs are Pradhan Steel and Power Private Limited, Atha Mines Private Limited and Tecton Ispat Private Limited.
While Pradhan Steel proposes to set up a 0.50 mtpa steel plant in over 460 acre land with an investment of Rs 606 crore at Dhurusia in Cuttack district, Atha Mines would set up a 0.25 mtpa capacity unit at an investment of Rs 291.60 crore at Tarkabeda in Dhenkanal district. Tecton Ispat would set up a 0.25 mtpa steel unit over 150 acre of land at an investment of Rs 227.13 crore at Tarkebeda in Dhenkanal district.
The meeting …accepted two out of the eight project proposals.
The meeting decided that the state government would seek necessary environmental clearance from the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) before giving the nod to any proposal for new thermal plants in the Angul-Talcher belt.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, industry secretary Ashok Dalwai said that state government had asked the IBM to make a detailed study on the environmental sustainability of the Angul-Talcher areas.
He said that the meeting, while discussing about the setting up of a number of thermal plants in the state also took note of the searing heat in this industrial belt during summer.
The Committee gave its nod to Jindal Photo Ltd’s proposal to enhance its power production capacity from 1,000 MT to 1,200 MT in its proposed plant at Angul.
The SLSWCC also approved the Well Spun Power and Steel Ltd’s proposal to set up its ore beneficiation and pelletisation plant at Dhamra.
The company aims to produce ductile iron and spiral iron from this plant, for which Rs 1,830 crore would be invested.
The company has asked the state government to arrange 2,000 acres of land.
The state government will scrutinise the land requirement proposal. The company had earlier inked an MoU with the state government to set up a 3-MT plant at Angul.
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