___________

[For Pinkbook extracts see here.]

The budget speech is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/Budget_2013-14/English_Speech_2013-14.pdf .

 Following are Odisha specific excerpts from the budget speech.

 Rail-Based Industries

42. To meet the increasing demand, reduce dependence on imports and to generate employment opportunities, following new manufacturing/maintenance facilities are proposed to be set up:-

 vii. a new wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi district, Odisha; 

 43. As regards setting up of new coach factories at Palakkad and Kolar, and a wagon factory in Ganjam district of Odisha, we are in consultation with respective state governments. I am hopeful of early commencement of work. 

 Skill Development

50. With a view to contributing to the national skill development programme of the Government, Ministry of Railways would impart skills to the youth in railway related trades in 25 locations spread across the length and breadth of the country. These locations are: Agartala, Alwar, Ankleshwar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Dimapur, Imphal, Jagdalpur, Jais, Katihar, Kazipet, Kollam, Koraput, Lumding, Mangalore, Murshidabad, Nagpur, Naharlagun, Pathankot, Ranchi, Ratlam, Shimla, Sirsa, Srinagar and Tiruchchirappalli. 

 Infrastructure Expansion

79. In 2010-11 and 2011-12, Railways completed 709 km and 727 km respectively of new lines. However, during 2012-13, emphasis was laid on capacity enhancement works like doubling, traffic facilities etc. The target of 700 km of new lines in the current year had to be scaled down to 470 km due to inadequate resources. The sections which have either been completed or are planned to be completed during 2012-13 are listed at Annexure 1.

 New Lines to be completed in 2012-13    

 23  Khurda Road-Khurda Town

 24  Lanjigarh Rd.-Junagarh (balance portion) 

81. I am happy to report that that the target of 700 km of doubling will be marginally exceeded during 2012-13. Sections which have either been completed or are scheduled for completion during 2012-13 are listed at Annexure 3.

Doubling projects to be completed in 2012-13    

21  Garhmadopur-Jenapur    

28  Jenapur-Jakhapura

29  Jharsuguda-Rengali (part) 

 Targets for 2013-14

 85. A target to complete 500 km of new lines has been set for 2013-14.

A list of sections proposed to be completed during the year is given in Annexure 5.

 New Line projects to be completed in 2013-14    

 20. Khurda Town-Sunakhela    

87. The target for Doubling has been increased to 750 km for 2013-14. The sections proposed to be completed in 2013-14 are given in Annexure 7. 

 Sections proposed to be doubled in 2013-14    

 3    Angul-Kerjang

11  Bhubneshwar-Barang

12  Bimalgarh-Patasahi 

14 Brindamal-Lapang 

21 Chilkidra-Harichandanpur

23  Cuttak-Barang

24  Delang-Sakhigopal 

27  Goaldhi-Keonjhar  

44  Naraj-Barang     

 New Projects

 90. I propose to take up following new projects in 2013-14: 

 Electrification   

 5. Singapur Road-Damanjodi    

91. I have been receiving representations from Hon’ble Members, State Governments and other public representatives in large numbers for construction of new lines, gauge conversion, doubling, and electrification and also for surveys. I have been pondering over them for the last one month. They are all genuine and reflect the growing need and demand of the most preferred mode of transport of the people in the country. I would sincerely wish to take up all those projects but am severely constrained for the reasons submitted earlier. Given this conspectus, despite the resource crunch, I propose to take up 22 projects of new lines and one gauge conversion project on socio-economic consideration and one doubling project after obtaining necessary approvals/clearances. These are:

 New Lines 

 19. Raipur-Jharsuguda    

 Surveys

93. I propose to undertake following surveys during 2013-14: 

 New Lines    

11. Bangriposi-Gorumahishani (Updating)  

23. Jashipur – Jajpur Road    

36. Nirakarpur and Tapanga new bye-pass line  

49. Sikarapai-Jagsalpatri-Junagarh    

56. Titlagarh- Junagarh      

New Train Services

95. A detailed exercise has been carried out to assess availability of
track capacity, terminal facilities and maintenance infrastructure. Within
the available resources, it has been possible to provide the following
new train services:

Express trains 

10. Bhubaneswar – Hazrat Nizamuddin Express (Weekly) Via Sambalpur

26. Howrah – Chennai AC Express (Bi-weekly) Via Bhadrak, Duvvada, Gudur

38. Kamakhya (Guwahati) – Bangalore AC Express (Weekly )

58. Puri – Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (Weekly) Via Sambalpur, Titlagarh, Raipur, Nagpur, Bhusawal 

59. Puri –Ajmer Express (Weekly) Via Abu-Road

63. Tirupati – Bhubaneswar Express (Weekly) Via Visakhapatnam 

65. Visakhapatnam – Jodhpur Express (Weekly) Via Titlagarh, Raipur

 Extension of Trains 

 5. 18437/18438 Bhubaneswar – Bhawanipatna Express to Junagarh 

16. 12507/12508 Guwahati-Ernakulam Express to Thiruvananthapuram 

17. 17005/17006 Hyderabad-Darbhanga Express to Raxaul after gauge conversion

25. 12145/12146 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Bhubaneswar Express to Puri 

33. 18419/18420 Puri-Darbhanga Express to Jaynagar

 Increase in frequency

18. 18309/18310 Sambalpur-Hazoor Saheb Nanded Express 2 to 3 day

Update: New announcements in the Loka Sabha during budget discussion

Some mentions relevant to Odisha are:

New Trains:

2. Hatia (Ranchi) – Yesvantpur Express (Weekly)

7. Tata-Visakhapatnam Express (Weekly)

Frequency increases:

5. Puri –Ajmer Express (Weekly) Via Abu-Road announced in Railway Budget 2013-14 will now be a bi-weekly train.

The following is extracted from the budget speech and the Pinkbook. This is an initial cut-n-paste. Will do a more extensive posting on this in the weekend.

From the budget speech:

List of 41 new lines proposed to be completed in 2011-12:-

…

12. Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh (Part)

13. Khurda Road – Begunia (Part)

…

List of new line projects targeted for completion in 2012-13

…

16. Begunia-Nayagarh
17. Talcher-Sunakhani

…

List of 55 Doubling Works for completion during 2011-12:-

…

26. Dumetra-Champajharan

27. Banspani-Jaroli

…

List of 67 Doubling Works for completion during 2012-13:-

…

16. Delang-Sakhigopal

18. Angul-Kerejang

56. Jenapur-Jakhapura

66. Cuttack-Barang
67. Rajatgarh-Barang

…

List of 23 new Doubling Projects sanctioned in 2012-13:-

…

19. Manoharpur – Bandamuda 3rd Line

22. Bhadrak – Nergundi 3rd Line

…

List of 21 new Surveys for Doubling Projects sanctioned in 2012-13:-

…

12. 3rd line between Kharagpur and Bhadrak

…

List of 10 new Railway Electrification Projects sanctioned in 2012-13:

…

2. Titlagarh–Sambhalpur-Jharsuguda and Angul-Sambalpur

From the pink book:

• New lines: Angul – Sukinda – 2 crores
• New lines: Daitari – Bansapani – 10 crores
• New lines: Haridaspur-Paradeep – 2 crores
• New lines: Khurda Rd – Balangir – 40 crores
• New lines: Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh – 12 crores
• New lines: Talcher – Bimlagarh – 30 crores
• Doubling: Jharsuguda – Rengali – 25 crores
• Doubling: Sambalpur – Rengali – 5 crores
• Third line: Khurda Rd – Barang – 10.5 crores
• Doubling: Cuttack – Barang – 25 crores
• Doubling: Sambalpur – Talcher – 40 crores
• Doubling: Delang – Puri – 40 crores
• Doubling : Sambalpur – Titlagarh – 130 crores
• Doubling: Raipur – Titlagarh – 100 crores
• Doubling: Bansapani – Jakhapura – 100 crores
• Doubling: Rajathagarh – Barang – 10.5 crores
• Third line: Bhadrak – Nergundi – 1 crores
• New line: Digha – Jaleswar – 10 crores
• Doubling: Padapahar – Bansapani – 1 crore
• Doubling: Bansapani – Jaroli – 8 crores
• Doubling: Barbil – Barjamda – 1.5 crores
• Doubling: Bimlagarh – Dumetra – 9 crores
• Doubling: Champajharan – Bimlagarh – 25 crores
• Third line: Manoharpur – Bondamunda – 1 crores

Following are some of the trains mentioned in this budget that will connect Odisha. The ones in red are of special interest. My comments are in blue.

New Trains:

2. Secunderabad-Shalimar AC Express (Weekly) via Vijayawada [** Introduced May 28 2013 **]
18. Barbil-Chakradharpur Intercity Express (Daily) via Dongoaposi, Jhinkpani [I expect this to be extended to Rourkela or even Sambalpur.] [** Introduced July 15 2012 **]
29. Bikaner-Puri Express (Weekly) via Jaipur,Kota,Katni Murwara, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur [This will be the first connection between Bhubaneswar/Puri and Bikaner and second between Bhubanswar/Puri and Jaipur.][** Introduced April 18 2013 **]
30. Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express (Bi-weekly) via Ballarshah, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Ranchi, Jhajha [This will increase the connectivity between JSG/ROU and Hyderabad to 3 days a week.] [** Introduced July 11 2012 **]

31. Bilaspur-Patna Express (Weekly) via Asansol, Jhajha [** Introduced July 6 2012 **]
33. Bhubaneswar-Bhawanipatna Link Express (Daily) via Vizianagaram [First train to/from Bhawanipatna.] [** Introduced August 11 2012 **]
34. Puri-Yesvantpur Garib Rath Express (Weekly) via Visakhapatnam, Guntur [** Introduced July 20 2012 **]
36. Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express (Weekly) via Visakhapatnam,Gudur. [** Introduced July 14 2012 **]
37. Visakhapatnam-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express (Weekly) via Titlagarh,Raipur [First connectivity between Rayagada/Kesinga and Mumbai. ] [** Introduced July 15 2012 **]
45. Shalimar-Chennai Express (Weekly) [More connectivity between Chennai and Puri/Bhubaneswar] [** Introduced June 23 2012 **]
53. Durg-Jagdalpur Express (Tri-Weekly) via Titlagarh [First connectivity between Koraput/Jeypore and Raipur.] [** Introduced October 10 2012 **]
68. Chennai-Puri Express (Weekly) [More connectivity between Chennai and Puri/Bhubaneswar] [** Introduced July 22 2012 **]
70. Asansol-Chennai Express (Weekly) via Purulia, Sambalpur,Vizianagaram [** Introduced July 28 2012 **]
71. Shalimar-Bhuj Express (Weekly) via Bilaspur, Katni, Bhopal[** Introduced April 20, 2013 **]

74. Malda Town-Surat Express ( Weekly) via Rampur Hat, Asansol, Nagpur [** Introduced July 9 2012 **]

Passenger trains:

5. Gunupur-Palasa (Via Parlakhemundi) Passenger (Daily) [** Introduced July 21 2012 **]

DEMU:
1. Baripada-Bangriposi (Daily) [** Introduced July 13 2012 **]

Extension of Trains:

4. 18417/18418 Bhubaneswar-Jharsuguda Rajya Rani Express to Rourkela [** Introduced July 17 2012 **]
13. 18005/18006 Howrah-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur [Connects Jeypore to Howrah.][** Introduced July 30 2012 **]
23. 58207/58208 Raipur-Kesinga Passenger to Bhawanipatna [Second connectivity to Bhawanipatna.][** Introduced August 12 2012 **]

Increase in Frequency:

13. 22603/22604 Kharagpur-Villupuram Express from 1 to 2 days. [More connectivity between Chennai and Puri/Bhubaneswar][** From April 10 2013 **]

Following is from the PIB report at http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=80759.

Odisha Chief Minister calls on Civil Aviation Minister

Civil Aviation Ministry to process the proposal for upgradation of Bhubaneswar Airport to International Airport

New Domestic Terminal Building to be ready by August

The Union Civil Aviation Minister Ch. Ajit Singh has said that the proposal of Odisha Government for the upgradation of Biju Patnayak Domestic Airport Bhubaneswar to International Airport will be processed by his Ministry for seeking the Cabinet approval.Ch. Ajit Singh said this today in a meeting with Odisha Chief Minister, Shri Navin Patnayak in New Delhi.

Ch. Ajit Singh has agreed to consider the proposal of upgradation of Bhubaneswar Airport and seek the Cabinet approval for the same in keeping with the State’s Tourism potential including famous Buddhist sites and monuments. Odisha is also rich in biodiversity, natural resources and mines which strengthens the claim of Bhubaneswar Airport to be upgraded as International Airport.

The new Domestic Terminal Building at Biju Patnayak Airport Bhubaneswar which is likely to be completed by August 2012, will cater to 800 passengers against the capacity of 500 of the present terminal building. The new terminal building will be completed at the cost of Rs 145.54 Crores and will include extension of Apron for additional one ‘D’ type and two ‘C’ type bay.

The Civil Aviation Minister, among other things, also discussed the issues relating to construction of main approach road from Sachivalaya Main Road to Airport, land acquisition of 22 acres for extension of basic strip upto 300 mtrs., land acquisition of 141 acres for extension of runway from 9000 ft to 10,500 ft., and the proposal for development and operationalisation of Jharsuguda Airport in phased manner, initially for ATR 72-500 type of aircraft operations and subsequently for AB0321.

The above PIB report is probably based on the Civil Aviation ministry’s release. The Odisha government’s release is in the news report http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=32449. Following is from that report.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today met the  Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh, in New Delhi. Hon’ble Chief Minister, Odisha informed the  Union Minister for Civil Aviation that Odisha does not have adequate air connectivity which acts as a major impediment to the industrialisation process and the growth of tourist traffic in the State.

He mentioned that the State does not have even a single International Airport and is managing with only one operational Domestic Airport at Bhubaneswar. The Chief Minister highlighted that the State has witnessed a significant spurt in investment in various industrial sectors and offers incredible tourist destinations including the World Heritage Monument, the Sun Temple Konark, the world famous Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri, many beautiful beaches and the largest Brackish water Lake, Chilka. He, accordingly, stressed upon the urgent need to scale up infrastructural support to the Aviation Sector in the State, both from the equity standpoint and the development perspective.

The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to declare Biju Patnaik Airport as an International Airport at the earliest and provide the required facilities including an International Terminal with 24X7 ATC operations, customs and immigration facilities and security, etc. He asserted that the Ministry of Civil Aviation may accord early clearance to those Airlines which are interested to operate International flights to and from Bhubaneswar.

He also requested the Union Minister for providing necessary infrastructural support to the Jharsuguda Airport for enabling Domestic Airlines to operate from there. Chief Minister stated that the Airport Authority of India may also have a closer look at the other existing Airports in Odisha and provide the required infrastructural support to make the feasible Airports operational for Domestic Airlines. This, he stated, would improve the air connectivity within the State.

The Chief Minister assured that the State will provide all necessary support to the Ministry of Civil Aviation/ Airport Authority of India in their task of upgrading Bhubaneswar Airport to an International Airport and in making other Domestic Airports in the State operational.  Union Minister appreciated the concerns of Odisha and assured that his Ministry will immediately prepare a Note for seeking the approval of the Cabinet for upgrading Biju Patnaik Airport to an International Airport.

For Jharsuguda Airport, the Union Minister stated that the length of the Airstrip will be increased to the desired minimum to make it operational for domestic airlines, at the earliest. He also assured the Hon’ble Chief Minister that his Ministry will actively explore the possibility of connecting Bhubaneswar to the Middle East and South East Asian countries. The Union Minister added that the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and Union Tourism Ministry will work closely with the State Government to host an Aviation/ Tourism Conference in Bhubaneswar for promoting tourist traffic to the State and assured that every possible support will be made to project Odisha as a world class tourist destination.

Note that in December during the Invest Bhubaneswar symposium flydubai had categorically said that if they get a slot from India to fly to/from Bhubaneswar then they will fly Bhubaneswar – Dubai.

Ports have economic and infrastructural impact on the nearby areas.  The recently operational Dhamara Port already has given a highway and railway line between Bhadrak and Dhamara. The proposed container depot (discussed in the Dharitri article below) will be another of its initial contribution.

Following is from a Business Standard article by Jayajit Das.

“We had submitted a Rs 1,200-crore connectivity plan for minor ports to the Government of India. In response, they have roped in a Gurgaon-based consultant- Louis Burger Consulting Pvt Ltd and they have already started the feasibility study. In 3-4 months, the consultant will be submitting its report to the Central government after which we can expect flow of funds”, a top official source told Business Standard.

It may be noted that there would be a major focus on road connectivity to major ports and airports in the country in the 12th Plan.

A Planning Commission Working Group on Central Roads Sector has demanded special package for this so that it is implemented on priority basis, separating it from overall National Highway planning.

While two-lane connectivity for 50 minor ports have been envisaged at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore, the cost of constructing roads to connect 24 airports has been estimated at Rs 1,800 crore. The proposal has been approved by the Steering Committee on Transport Sector for the 12th Plan held under the Chairmanship of Plan Panel Member BK Chaturvedi.

Earlier, the Orissa government which has identified 14 potential sites for the development of minor ports had requested the Government of India to formulate a policy to provide rail and road connectivity to these ports from the national network on the lines of major ports.

The Union ministry of shipping and highways is understood to offer 50 per cent funding for road and rail connectivity for these upcoming ports.

…

The state has witnessed grounding of investment of Rs 4,262.44 crore from non-major ports in the past 10 years.

The investments have come from four minor port developers- Dhamara Port Company Ltd (DPCL), Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL), Creative Port Development Ltd and Navayug Engineering Ltd from 2002-03 up to the end of September last year.

Odisha benefits a lot from trains that connect Howrah with the south and with the west. In the last few days announcements for the initial operation of five such trains have been made. These trains are:

1. Howrah – Mysore (via BBS)
2. Santragachi – Mangalore express (via BBS)
3. Santragachi – Nanded Exprees (via ROU and JSG)
4. Shalimar – Udaipur (via ROU and JSG) Express
5. Shalimar – Secunderabad (via BBS) Express.

Of these five, the first four bring new connectivity.

Interestingly the recent articles in the Odisha media (both English and Oriya papers; see for example, here and here.) about these new trains do not mention 3 and 4. I suspect they did not realize that most (not all) trains from Howrah to the west take the Rourkela – Jharsuguda segment. In other words most trains from Howrah to Mumbai, Pune and Maharashtra in general, to Gujarat and some of the trains to Rajasthan take the Rourkela – Jharsuguda segment. However, there are a few trains from Howrah to West that do not take this segment.

The Darbhanga – Hyderbad Express and the Patna – Durg express also go through the Rourkela – Jharsuguda segment.

Similarly several trains from Jharkhand to the south go through Odisha taking the Rourkela – Jharsuguda – Sambalpur – Titlagarh – Rayagada – Vijianagaram route. Main among them are the daily Dhanbad – Allepey express and the Ranchi/Tata – Yesvantpur express.

The Samata express from Vizag to Delhi and the Bilaspur – Tirupaty Express go through the Rayagada –  Titlagarh – Raipur segment. The Vizag to Amritsar Express takes the Palasa – Berhampur – Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar – Angul – Sambalpur – Jharsuguda segments.

As S. Pani points out Indigo is going to have the following new flights through Bhubaneswar:

Starting 16th Feb:
6E 293 Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Mumbai-Coimbatore
6E 294 Coimbatore-Mumbai-Bhubaneswar-Kolkata

Starting 7th March
6E 511 Chennai-Vizag-Bhubaneswar-Kolkata
6E 512 Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Vizag-Chennai

With these and other recent changes following is a glimpse of the flight connectivity between Bhubaneswar and other cities. We only show direct flights or flights with one stop (but no plane changes).

Kolkata:

Delhi: (Note – The Jetlite flight does not show up in the left.)Mumbai: (The Jetlite and Jet Konect flights below refer to the same flight.)

Bangalore: (The Jetlite and Jet Konect flights below refer to the same flight.)
Hyderabad: (For some reason the above Jet Konnect/Jet Lite flight to  Hyderabad does not show up below.)Chennai: (The Air India flight below is five days a week.)Visakhapatnam:      Port Blair: Coimbatore:

The new flights that Indigo introduced has the hopping schedule that South West airlines in USA has. Such a hopping schedule allows for additional 1 or 2 stop connections without plane changes. I hope in the future similar connectivity is added to places like Cochin, Pune, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore, Guwahati, Lucknow/Kanpur etc.

I also noticed that on some days the price to fly between Bhubaneswar and Mumbai is more than flying from Bhubaneswar to Coimbatore via Mumbai on the same flight.

Not so long ago Puri and Bhubaneswar were the only initiating and terminal stations in Odisha with trains plying only on a few major routes: (i)  Kharagpur – Bhubaneswar – Berhampur (ii) Tatanagar – Rourkela – Jharsuguda – Bilaspur (iii) Khurda Rd – Puri. (iv) Jharsuguda – Sambalpur – Titlagarh – Raipur (v) Titlagarh – Rayagada – Vijianagaram ; with only the first three having significant number of trains.

Over the last 10-15 years things have been changing steadily and the following (from Samaja)  is a welcome announcement. It will connect the Bardbil – Joda mining towns to the Odisha heartland.

With this extension Barbil will have a daily train to Puri and a daily train to Kolkata.

Following is a list of the other stations (besides the main line stations of Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore, Jharsuguda and Rourkela) which now have emerging connectivity.

1. Barbil: Daily express train to Puri and a daily express train to Kolkata. A daily passenger train to Tatanagar.
   1. Kendujhargarh: The train to Puri passes through Kendujhargarh. In addition there is a fast passenger between Kendujhargarh and Bhubaneswar 5 days a week.
2. Baripada: Six days a week express train to Bhubaneswar and 3 days a week express train to Kolkata; three passenger trains (two of them 6 days a week; another 3 days a week) to Rupsa.
3. Koraput: Daily express train to Bhubaneswar and Jagdalpur, Daily express train to Kolkata, Daily express train to Rourkela, Daily passenger to Rayagada, Daily passenger to Vizag and Kirandul, and  a 5 days a week express train to Vizianagaram and Vizag has been announced.
4. Paradeep: Daily express train to Puri (via Bhubaneswar) and three passenger trains to Cuttack.
5. Gunupur: A daily passenger between Gunupur and Puri (via Bhubaneswar).
6. Rayagada: There are many trains that pass through Rayagada linking Rayagada with Vizianagaram and beyond (Vizag, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar), with Titlagarh and beyond (Raipur, Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Tata, Dhanbad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata) and with Koraput and (Jagdalpur)  Among them are a daily express train between Rayagada and Sambalpur and daily passenger trains between Rayagada and Vizag, Rayagada and Vijaywada, and Rayagada and Koraput.
7. Titlagarh: There are many trains that pass through linking Titlagarh with Raipur and beyond (Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Gandhinagar), with Sambalpur and beyond (Rourkela, Dhanbad, Tata, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Kolkata), with Vizianagaram and beyond (Vizag, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi), and with Koraput and beyond (Jagdalpur). Among them are a daily express train between Titlagarh and Kolkata, and daily passenger trains between Titlagarh and Raipur and Titlagarh and Jharsuguda.
8. Balangir: There are many trains that pass through linking Balangir with Titlagarh and beyond (Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Koraput, Vizag, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi) and Balangir with Sambalpur and beyond (Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Dhanbad, Tata, Kolkata). Among them is a daily express train between Balangir and Bhubaneswar.
9. Bhawanipatna: With the Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh line coming to a completion within a year it is expected that we will have new trains to/from Bhawanipatna in a year or two. Currently, Kesinga and Titlagarh stations serve this area.

Following is some data from http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/bhubaneshwar_technicalinfo.jsp.

Latitude	201448.2N
Longitude	0854906.7E
Land Area	816.79 Acres
Elevation	146 above MSL

Terminal Capacity

Domestic
Arrival	Departure
300	400

Boarding Gates

Domestic
Ground Floor	4

Terminal Area and No. of Counters

Terminal	Area in Sq. Meters	No. of Counters
		Check In	Immigration	Customs	Security
Domestic	4143 sq.mt.	15	–	–	–

 

The new airport terminal that is being constructed will be much bigger.

• As per the wikipedia entry (as of now) its size will be 24,000 sq mtrs and its capacity will be 970 domestic passengers and 384 international passengers (Business Standard).
•  The graphics below from this Telegraph article gives slightly different numbers:

Nevertheless, it is clear that the new terminal is about 4-6 times bigger than the current terminal.

The article at http://www.tathya.in/new/story.aspx?sno=6154 mentions that the new terminal is expected to be ready by June 2012 and then the current terminal is planned to be used as an international terminal.

Thanks very much Bikash Dash for the pointer to http://wiki.iricen.gov.in/doku/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=9209%3Aabkhare.pdf. The solution presented there to expand the current Bhubaneswar station to 10 platforms is very good. Since the expansion of existing Bhubaneswar station is deemed economically feasible, they should just go ahead with that immediately (asap) and at the same time start acquiring land in the New Barang location so that a large station can come up there in 10-15 years when that will be needed.

Following are some pictures from the above mentioned slide sets.

The main hurdle with respect to the above plan is the private land that is marked as "to be acquired". That part is shown in red in the map below.

I hope that hurdle is overcome and the expansion gets going asap. If there is trouble then a simple alternative is to move the commercial part to the area marked in green (in the map below) and make the parking area marked in orange a multi-level one with the underground part going under the Janpath to the commercial complex marked in green.

Since the land marked in green is government land this would not cause a lot of trouble and as mentioned before it will connect the station complex with the IG park, Secretariate, Assembly, and Rabindra mandap. In the future there may be a Las Vegas style monorail connecting all these parts. (Note that this plan will not affect the existing coaching yard much. That money can be used in making the underground path connecting the green part and the orange part.)

But in 10-15 years the ten platforms will not be enough; especially when there will be many suburban routes with more frequent trains. Examples of such lines:

• Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark (Puri-Konark extension is expected)
• Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Gopalpur (Berhampur-Gopalpur extension is expected; post connectivity)
• Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd-Nayagarh (part of Khurda-Balangir line)
• Bhubaneswar-Talcher
• Bhubaneswar-Rajathgarh-Tangi
• Bhubaneswar-Bhadrak
• Bhubaneswar-Paradeep
• Bhubaneswar-Barang-Astaranga (new port connectivity)
• Bhubaneswar-Puri-Baliharchandi (new port connectivity)
• Bhubaneswar-Jakhapura-Sukinda

So the alternative plan of a major station near Barang should also proceed but with a slower speed. Especially the land should be acquired asap before the prices become very high.

Update: Thanks very much Bikash Dash for the pointer to http://wiki.iricen.gov.in/doku/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=9209%3Aabkhare.pdf. The solution presented there is good enough. My only comment would be that since the expansion of existing Bhubaneswar station is economically feasible, they should just go ahead with that immediately (asap) and at the same time start acquiring land in the New Barang location so that a large station can come up there in 10-15 years when that will be needed.

The Bhubaneswar railway station currently has only FOUR platforms. That is too little for the volume of trains and passengers it caters to and will cater to in the future. Besides being on the main Howrah-Chennai line and the ECOR headquarter, with the Bhubaneswar metro area growing and many new lines in the anvil (Khurda-Balangir, possible new line to Astarang to serve the proposed port there, Khurda Rd To Rajahthagarh completing a circuit)  there will soon  be need for many local train circuits with more frequent trains.

All this means that even if a new station near Barang (15-16 kms from Bhubaneswar) is constructed with enough platforms, because of the central location of the Bhubaneswar station, the later needs to be expanded with additional platforms.

But there is no horizontal available land in parallel to the exisiting platforms.

I envision two possible solutions:

(i) Going vertical and creating another layer of platforms either under or above the existing platforms. But that would add may be another 4 platforms.

(ii) Another possibility is to go under and create a terminus under the area marked in blue in the pictures below. All those land is owned by the Odisha government. So land acquisition is not a problem.

As can be seen from the pictures above one can add 8+ more platforms perpendicular to the existing 4 platforms. All this can be done in a PPP mode with making good use of shopping, pedestrian plaza and surface transport center all in the ground level and higher and stretching all the way up to the Indira Gandhi park and the Assembly Hall, Secretariat, Rabindra Mandap etc.

The new platforms could mostly be used for trains origniating and terminating at Bhubaneswar; thus  not hampering the stopping times of thorough trains which would  need an engine direction change if they go to the new platforms.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Though the AAI had asked the State Government to make available a total of 815 acres of land for the airport project, the latter had requested the AAI to scale down the land requirement since maximum 734 acres are available in the area.

Now, the State Government has assured the AAI to provide additional land of around 40 acres for upgradation of the airstrip. Patnaik said the 40 acres of land would help construct a 6,000-feet-long runway. The district Collector has been told to identify suitable land and clear the encroachment, if any, before handing over the land to the AAI.

Although the above is a good step, considering the important of this airport towards well-rounded development of Odisha the government is too slow. It needs to move faster.

Update: Following is from a report in Business Standard.

… "The Ministry of shipping and highways has more or less agreed to bear 50 per cent of the cost of road and rail connectivity for the minor ports proposed in the state. The ministry had asked us to submit cost estimates for the same and accordingly, we had submitted Rs 1200-crore plan for offering road and rail connectivity for the upcoming minor ports", an official source told Business Standard.

According to the proposal, the cost of rail and road connectivity for the minor ports would be shared equally between the Centre and the port developers.

… Among the 14 locations identified by the state government for the development of ports are Dhamara, Jatadhari Muhan, Barunei Muhan, Astaranga, Bichitrapur, Chudamani and Kirtania to name a few.

The state government had already inked concession agreements with the developers for the development of ports at Dhamara, Gopalpur and Kirtania.

The Orissa government has also signed MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Private Ltd and Aditya Birla Group for setting up of ports at Astaranga and Chudamani respectively.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

Orissa has witnessed grounding of investment of Rs 4,262.44 crore from non-major ports in the past 10 years.

The investments have made four minor port developers- Dhamara Port Company Ltd (DPCL), Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL), Creative Port Development Ltd and Navayug Engineering Ltd from 2002-03 up to the end of September this year. …

DPCL, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and L&T, is the biggest investor, with its investment till the second quarter of 2011-12 standing at Rs 3,570.35 crore.

The port developer, who has already begun operations, has invested Rs 762.79 crore, Rs 1,088.26 crore and Rs 1,059.40 crore in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. In 2011-12, DPCL has invested Rs 60.45 crore till the end of September.

Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL), a special purpose vehicle promoted jointly by Orissa Stevedores Ltd and Sara International Limited (SIL) has invested Rs 421.09 crore during 2007-08 to September-end of 2011-12. The port developer which is developing the seasonal port at Gopalpur into an all-weather port, has invested Rs 51.09 crore in 2007-08, Rs 30 crore in 2008-09, Rs 50 crore in 2009-10, Rs 40 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 250 crore in this fiscal (till September-end).

The state government has asked the port promoters to commission second phase of the port operations by March 2013. GPL has already claimed to have achieved financial closure of Rs 1,400 crore for the first stage of Phase-II of the deep sea port with the signing of loan agreement with a consortium of 11 banks.

The port at Subarnarekha river mouth, proposed by Chennai-based Creative Port Development, has seen investment of Rs 221 crore.

Creative Port Development had inked an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government on December 18, 2006 for setting up a port with an initial capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) which was to be scaled up to 40 mtpa in 10 years.

The port developer had also entered into a concession agreement with the state government on January 11, 2008. As per this agreement, the port developer would share revenue with the state government at the rate of five per cent from first to fifth year, eight per cent from sixth to 10th year, 10 per cent from 11th to 15th year and 12 per cent for the remaining 15 years.

The port at Astaranga in Puri district has witnessed an investment of Rs 50 crore over the past four years.

The port project is being taken up at a cost of Rs 6,500 crore. The initial capacity of the port will be 25 mtpa which will be eventually scaled up to 70 mtpa. The state government had entered into an MoU with Hyderabad-based Navyug Engineering Ltd on December 22, 2008.

The project proponent had signed a concession agreement with the state government in November 2010.

Please help me fill the missing data in the table below. (The important data we need is the route kms for the red states in Column 2 as those states do not have a division HQ of that zone.)

Why it is important that SER have a division in Odisha?

• As we will show below SER, without a proper representation in Odisha, has badly messed up in Odisha.
• SER has neglected stations in Odisha. In particular, it has neglected Rourkela, the second largest metropolitan area of Odisha in many ways. For example, Rourkela is not in the list of world-class stations.

How has SER messed up in Odisha?

• The Rupsa-Bangiriposi conversion to broad gauge has been messed up badly. See page 8-9 of 2006-may-CAG report.



• Alignment of Jaleswar – Digha line.
• The dangling lines



• etc.

Having made the point that SER needs to have a division HQ in Odisha, the best location for such a division HQ would be Rourkela. It would of course need a reorganization of the current division break-up. Below we will give some suggestions on a possible reorganization.

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

The state government has started work on development of a railway corridor through Choudwar to Rourkela to allow ease of inward and outward transportation of goods from the industrial hubs and mining belts along the region.

Land acquisition for the project, the first of its kind initiative by a state government, has already been initiated by the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco). The project would go on ground after the land acquisition and is targeted to be completed by 2015, said Idco CMD Priyabrata Patnaik on Friday.

The corridor involves development of extensive rail and road connectivity, along with provisioning of water supply and other infrastructural facilities. The corridor would encompass two track railway lines and six-lane road passing through the industrial hubs and the coal mining belts. New industrial areas and downstream units would be developed along the corridor.

Common infrastructure facilities under the corridor would solve the problems of inward and outward transportation of goods and minerals. The stretch would pass through the heart of coal mining operations in the state, which harbours about 65 billion tonne of reserves. The coal reserves in the Talcher belt only is around 43 billion tonne.

The corridor would cover 17 large and mega-industries, along with 57 other units, through the stretch from Choudwar to Rourkela. Traffic projection on the route is given out as 8.7 million tonne.

The route would have 163 km of railway track length and 465 km on road. As many as 308 minor bridges and 77 major bridges would have to be constructed on it, said Patnaik.

Note 1: The 163 km of railway track probably refers to the Talcher-Bimlagarh segment.

Note 2: Although the above report only mentions the Choudwar-Rourkela part, in earlier documents there is mention of Paradeep-Choudwar-Rourkela industrial corridor. See for example this 2009 Business Standard report. Following are some excerpts from that.

The Orissa government plans to develop an industrial corridor running from Paradeep to Rourkela through industrial hubs like Choudwar, Talcher and Sambalpur.

Though the initial proposal was to have an industrial corridor originating from Choudwar to Rourkela, the proposal was modified to extend the corridor till Paradeep to allow inward and outward transport of goods through the Paradeep port, sources said.

… The proposed industrial corridor will be in line with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and is designed to pass through national highway no.42 and national highway no 5 (A).

Under the project, both road and rail corridor will be developed, which will be the backbone of the proposed project. The industrial estates and down stream units would be developed over 25 km area on both sides of the corridor.

IL&FS has been appointed as the consultant for the project and it has already submitted the pre-feasibility study report to the industry department on the project. However, the detail cost of the project is yet to be worked out yet, sources added.

…

The latest initiative of the state government follows a similar initiative to develop a common ‘rail-road-water pipeline and infrastructure corridor’ in Meramundali-Angul-Talcher-Chhendipada belt, to facilitate movement of coal in the Talcher coalfield area.

The project is estimated to cost about Rs 5000 crore including Rs 2000 crore for 2-line rail corridor and Rs 1100 crore for 4 lane road alongside it. The land width of the proposed corridor will be 300 metre which includes 60 metre for road and 20 metre for water pipeline.

The total length of the corridor is 137 kilometre which includes length of 43 number of major bridges to be constructed on this stretch. RITES Ltd has already submitted a pre-feasibility report to the state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd. (Idco) on the project.

The project is designed to have multi-point centralised loading stations conceived along the corridor rather than individual bulb connections with a view to avoid interference or wastage of coal bearing areas. Road and water pipe alignment will run parallel to rail alignment, sources said.

It will be connected to rail line at three locations- Jharpada, Angul and Budhapanka. The common corridor will have multiple entry and exit points and no surface crossing. Besides, flyovers are proposed to avoid cross movements at junction stations.

This ‘rail-road-water pipeline and infrastructure corridor’ in Meramundali-Angul-Talcher-Chhendipada belt is projected to handle 113 million tonne coal by 2014-15. It includes 55 million tonne coal movement required by the power companies, 40.76 million tonne by steel companies and 17.22 million tonne by other industries.

Following is from a report by Bibhuti Barik in Telegraph.

The state government is planning to build a new road from Lingaraj Temple to Kotiteertheswar Temple at a cost of around Rs 2 crore, to ease traffic pressure in the area. The 410-metre two-lane road will come with a three-acre parking area.

The project, which is to be taken up jointly by the tourism department and the roads and building division of the public works department (PWD), will also help provide a clearer view of the 11th century Lingaraj temple as shops and roadside vendors in front of the shrine will be relocated along the new road.

… the dilapidated Lingaraj Market Complex … will be demolished to clear the area for the laying of the road which will run along the Devi Padahara pond, behind Ananta Vasudev Temple and the farm lands on the side of natural drainage channel No. 7 near Kotiteertheswar Lane. The private land near the temple, which is owned by businessmen and the Lingaraj Temple Trust, will also be acquired to speed up the road project.

… “The state tourism department has already given Rs 30 lakh to the PWD and the rest — Rs 1.69 crore — will be provided by them from their plan budget. All the displaced traders and vendors will be rehabilitated.”

… the two-lane road would have facilities such as footpath and accompanying drains. However, the parking lot would be built by the tourism department, as it is not included in the road project.

The road would later be extended up to Taleswar Mahadev to improve the communication between Kedar Gouri and Lingaraj Temple.

Tourism department sources added that Old Town would soon have a mega tourist circuit, for which the Centre has sanctioned Rs 8.14 crore. The proposed circuit envisages, among others things, renovation of two major roads, construction of a “parikrama” around Lingaraj Temple, soft lighting for eight protected monuments and two tourism interpretation centres.

While the tourism department is trying to revive Ekamreswar, the miniature temple of Lord Lingaraj near Lingaraj police station, a dedicated road corridor will be constructed to link Puri, Old Town and Khandagiri via Dhauli. An amphitheatre will also be built opposite Madhusudan Park at Pokhariput with a capacity to accommodate 3,000 people.

Update: The updated train timings of this extended train is as follows. It is slower than expected and takes 4 hours between Rourkela and Hatia. But those extra stops, many in Jharkhand, makes it easy for the Jharkhand people to accept this extension. That may be the reason it has these many stops in between.

(Thanks to rourkelacity.com for the pointer to this topic.)

Following is from a report in Telegraph.

… the Jammu Tawi-Hatia Express will be extended till Rourkela from November 12. Hitherto, Rourkela could enjoy the services of only Hatia-Puri Tapaswini Express, Hatia-Bhubaneswar Garib Rath Express and Hatia-Jharsuguda Passenger.

The above report is from the Jharkhand edition of Telegraph. It is nice to hear that they are taking this news positively, unlike many places which complain when a train originating/terminating from their city is extended.

Although this is a slow train with many stops, this will be the first direct connection between a city in Odisha and Jammu Tawi. The major en-route stops of this train are: Muri, Allahabad, Kanpur, Tundla, Aligarh, Delhi, Sonipat, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pathankot Jn. From Ranchi it currently takes 30:25 hrs to Delhi. It takes about 2:30-3 hrs from Rourkela to Ranchi. So from Rourkela it will take about 33 hrs to Delhi. In comparison Utkal Express plus the 08177 Tata-JSG special takes 26:25 + 2:20 = 28:45hrs. So although it is not that good an alternative to travel to Delhi, it provides new connectivity between Rourkela to many other cities such as: Allahabad, Kanpur, Tundla, Aligarh, Sonipat, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Pathankot Jn and Jammu Tawi.

This extension is the result of the efforts of the people of Rourkela. Their movement to provide better connectivity and facilities at Rourkela should be energized by this initial result.

From an initial look, Rourkela has good connectivity to places in the west (Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, etc.) and Kolkata.

With the above mentioned train the connectivity to Delhi will be decent and as mentioned their will be new connectivity to many new cities in the North. (Earlier there was only a biweekly train to/from Varanasi.)

In terms of connectivity to Southern cities the main trains are: the daily Allepey train with stoppages at Vizianagaram, Vizag, Vijaywada, Chennai, Coimbatore, Palghat, and Kochi (Ernakulum); thrice a week to/from Bangalore via Vijaywada and Tirupati; and weekly to Hyderabad. So the connectivity to Bangalore and Hyderabad needs to be improved urgently. Connectivity to/from Hyderabad could be easily improved by extending the biweekly Sambalpur-Nizamabad express to Rourkela. (One needs to check the current rake-sharing arrangements for it.)

The site http://rourkelarail.wetpaint.com/page/DEMANDS lists a bunch of demands from some railfans from Rourkela. It would help if they make a prioritized list of their demands for trains (new, extensions, frequency increases): Top, Top 3, Top 5. Note that diversions and rerouting of trains is extremely rare as the people in the current routes (who will lose that train) will oppose it. So such demands undermine the effort.

Following is from a PTI report in zeenews.

The Cabinet Committee of Infrastructure (CCI) on tuesday approved projects … four/two laning of Birmitrapur-Barkote section on NH 23 in Orissa under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) phase IV-A, an official release said.

"… The total estimated cost of the project (Orissa) is Rs 1,098.90 crore," the release said.

On land acquisition, resettlement, rehabilitation and pre-construction, … Rs 320.75 crore will be spent on  Orissa projects.

Both the projects will be built on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis in BOT (Toll) mode of delivery.

… On the Orissa project, which is based in Sundargah and Deogarh districts, it said the concession period is 23 years including construction period of 30 months for 125.61 km scheme.

"The project will reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Birmitrapur-Barkote. It will also increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project activities," it said.

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

Naveen demanded that five State Highways — Berhampur-Koraput, Madhapur-Rayagada, Phulnakhara-Konark, Kuakhia-Aradi-Bhadrak and Palasa-Khariar — be upgraded to NHs.

Following are excerpts from a report in Hindu.

The Orissa Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, has sought 50 per cent share in “super normal profit” earned by private mine owners and said he would raise the issue of imposition of a mineral resource tax on iron ore during the National Development Council (NDC) meeting on Saturday.

“Mining companies are making super normal profits in Orissa. People of Orissa deserve 50 per cent of this…a quarter of our population is of tribals and we will put this profit to developing our areas,” Mr Patnaik said.

He said this was essential as most of the mining companies were operating on tribal land without doing justice to the people. Despite the State being the owner of the resources, the mine owners are benefiting beyond any measure of reasonable returns, he said.

“I have already written to the Prime Minister about it. I will be speaking about it in the NDC meeting. Rent-resource tax from the mining companies should be levied on Australia’s pattern,” he said.

In a July 30 letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Patnaik said, “The insatiable demand for iron ore in the export market has resulted in iron ore becoming highly profitable commodity, with returns from mining being far in excess of economically acceptable rates.”

The letter mentioned that the super-normal profits being made are evident from the audited operational profits of 80 per cent by miners, which is unheard of in other industries.

The Chief Minister had sought imposing a 50 per cent mineral resource tax, taking cue from Australia which has decided to levy higher taxes on iron ore from July 2012.

Thanks to Saket Sahu @ Orissatoday google group for the pointer.

Update on 10th October 2011: The Delhi – Bhubaneswar – Port Blair Air India (6 days a week) flight will allow boarding and deplaning of passengers at Bhubaneswar. This will not only provide Bhubaneswar – Port Blair connectivity; it will also incraese connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Delhi. Air India also plans to have another daily Bhubaneswar – Delhi flight taking the total number of daily AI flights between these cities to (almost) three   and taking the total number of daily Bhubaneswar – Delhi flights to almost eight – 7 dailies and one 6 days a week. Following is a screen copy from http://www.cleartrip.com/ on the dates Nov 2 2011 and Nov 3 2011.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Deccan Herald.

Keeping in mind the high tourist potential, Air India subsidiary Alliance Air has introduced a direct flight to Port Blair from here via Bhubaneswar and would operate a new 70-seater jet plane.

Giving holiday makers another reason to cheer, Air India’s direct flight AI 9603/9604 would be operated with Bombardier’s CRJ-700 on all days of the week, except Saturday, a spokesperson said.

The above news item is confirmed from the Air India web site. See the screen capture below.

As the following map shows Bhubaneswar is very close to the straight line between Delhi and Port Blair. The stop-over in Bhubaneswar allows Air India to use a smaller aircraft that can be refueled in Bhubaneswar. I hope Air India will allow people to get on and off at Bhubaneswar.

As the map above shows Bhubaneswar is also very close to the straight line connecting Delhi to Jakarta, Delhi to Singapore and Delhi to Kwalalumpur. I hope  some of the airlines take note of that and introduce flights between those places with a stopover in Bhubaneswar.

Update: Mumbai to Hongkong and Mumbai to Taipei also passes very close to Bhubaneswar. Updated the map above to illustrate that.

In the following excerpts from a report in Business Standard Haridaspur-Paradip and Talcher-Bimlagarh are listed as strategic projects. I hope they are fast tracked.

… Delays in land acquisition and forest clearances continue to stand in the way of completing strategic projects like the 82-km Haridaspur-Paradip line and the 154-km link between Talcher and Bimlagarh, both in Orissa. While the first project is to give good port access to units in the steel hub of Kalinganagar, the second is designed to step up evacuation of coal from mines at Angul and Talcher.

…This is why India, endowed with the world’s fifth largest bauxite deposits and the fourth largest coal reserves, has emerged as a preferred place for making aluminium. Within the country, Orissa is where every aluminium maker wants a presence. That is why the Vedanta group, in spite of being solidly anchored in Chhattisgarh, thanks to its 50 per cent ownership of Balco, with capacity of 345,000 tonnes and then giving shape to a 650,000-tonne smelter there, wants to create alumina capacity of five mt and smelting capacity of 1.6 mt in Orissa, with adequate upstream integration in bauxite mining and coal-based power.

NAY SAYERS
Unfortunately, Vedanta is not able to realise what it has set out to do in Orissa, as it fell foul of pressure groups such as Amnesty International and Survival International and also of the ministry of environment and forests. The Niyamgiri Hills, from where Vedanta’s refinery is to draw bauxite, is considered sacred by Dongria Kondh tribesmen. But why should the company be stopped to take out bauxite from there if it is ready to resettle the displaced people and practise environment-friendly mining?

As a result of the impasse, Vedanta is required to source bauxite from outside, totally upsetting the considerations for hosting a refinery at nearby Lanjigarh. The denial of mining at Niyamgiri is setting a bad precedent for the mining sector. Redemption for Vedanta would hopefully come, with the Orissa government committed to offering alternative bauxite deposits.

There are some recent news on Vedanta’s expansion in Lanjigarh. But the news are confusing. Following is an excerpt from a September 17th report in Times of India.

Vedanta has suffered another setback in its fight-back to expand the aluminium refinery in Orissa after the Union environment ministry had struck down its environment clearance for violations.

The Cuttack bench of the Orissa High Court backed the environment ministry and ordered that Vedanta would have to apply afresh for a clearance for expansion if it wants to.

Following is an excerpt from a September 19th report in ndtv.com.

The ministry of environment and forests has cleared Vedanta Aluminium’s project in Lanjigarh, Orissa. 

The expansion of Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Aluminium’s four million tonne Lanjigarh refinery plant in Kalahandi had been put on hold by the Union Environment Ministry  on October 21, 2010.

… Environment ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) has cleared the project with 70 conditions, sources told NDTV. Major conditions among them are:  Five per cent of the total project cost would be spent on social welfare projects.The company will maintain air, water quality & develop 164 hectare of plant area as green belt.

Others conditions say that the company will also submit rehabilitation and resettlement policy covering tribals, which should be in line with government policies. The company will also be required to submit corporate environment policy approved by its board.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/vedanta-s-aluminium-project-in-orissa-gets-green-nod-178542?ch=kjjbhrkjrhplkmn&cp

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/vedanta-s-aluminium-project-in-orissa-gets-green-nod-178542?ch=kjjbhrkjrhplkmn&cp