___________

Following is from a PIB release dated 5th October 2010.

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure

05-October-2010 19:48 IST

Upgradation of road from Vijayawada to Ranchi approved

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) today approved improvement of balance 600 Km. of State roads in Orissa with a view to develop, in a phased manner, the entire 1632 Km. long Left Wing extremism affected Vijayawada-Ranchi corridor at an estimated cost of Rs.1200 crore. The project will be completed in next three years by March, 2014.

The project will also provide a good communication network between the tribal districts of Orissa and other developed areas in the State as well as to the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

The project will cover Malkangiri, Jaypore, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhmal, Boudh, Sambalpur, Angul, Deogarh, Koenjhar and Mayurbhanj districts in Orissa.

BACKGROUND:

In view of growing activities of Left Wing Extremists in various States, the stretch between Vijayawada-Ranchi Route was considered for development as an integrated project by Central and State Governments. In Sept., 2009, the Government took decision to sanction remaining stretches of National Highways on Vijayawada Ranchi route in Orissa for widening to two-lane standards and undertaking preparation of Detail Project Reports (DPRs) for 600 Km. length of State Roads, which are not covered under any other programme.

***

AKT/SH/SM

The following map is from a report in Telegraph.

Following are excerpts from that report.

… The buses, procured by the state government with financial assistance from the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), …

The newly constituted government authority Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) today signed an agreement with local transport agency Dream Team Shahara Services to run the services in the two cities.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), the Orissa State Road Transport Corporation, the Puri-Konark Development Authority and the Puri Municipality are the stakeholders in BPTSL.

While 100 buses are scheduled to ply on six different routes in Bhubaneswar, 25 buses will travel on three routes in Puri.

Of the 100 buses, 50 standard buses with 38 seats each and 50 mini-buses with a seating capacity of 30 passengers will ply between Khurda-Master Canteen; Nandan Kanan-Airport, KIIT-Uttara Chhaka, Dumduma–VSS Nagar, Nuagaon-Phulnakahara and Khandagiri-Sai Temple in Bhubaneswar.

Five standard buses and 20 mini-buses will ply between Beach Road-Konark, Jagannath Temple-Master Canteen, and Jagannath Temple to Konark. The frequency of the buses will vary from 7 to 15 minutes during peak hours and 15 to 30 minutes during non-peak hours. The bus services will be available from 6am to 6pm.

“As per the memorandum of understanding, the state government will provide the BPTSL with infrastructure such as bus terminals at the origin and destination of every route. Planning of bus stops will also be done in a phased manner. Autorickshaw services in Bhubaneswar will not be affected. We have already consulted with the autorickshaw unions of the city in this regard,” housing and urban development secretary Arun Panda said.

Panda said: “The fare slab proposed is on the higher side. The actual fare cannot be more than the slab. We will revise the fare based on the automatic fare revision formula, which is linked to the hike in fuel prices.”

… “Today, we have given BPTSL a cheque for Rs 85 lakh. Another, Rs 2.55 crore will be paid this year. We will also pay BPTSL Rs 2.5 lakh every month towards route charges,” said Nishikanta Mishra, chairman of Dream Team Shahara Services.

Panda said that the buses had been purchased for Rs 17.5 crore. “The state government engaged the Urban Mass Transit Company, which is a government of India undertaking, as the transaction advisor. The Urban Mass Transit Company has prepared the route plan and stoppages after making a comprehensive study on the road network,” he added.

The state’s special secretary, commerce and transport department, has been designated as the chief executive officer of the BPTSL, BMC mayor is the chairman and the chairperson of the Puri Municipality has been made the vice-chairperson.

Following are couple of maps extracted from wikimapia.

Cuttack people are unhappy that there are no connections to Cuttack. I think the state has not been able to convince the appropriate authorities in Delhi that Bhubaneswar-Cuttack is a single metropolitan area. In any case this is a start and hopefully soon there will be additional routes, especially connecting to Cuttack. Two routes that need to be added as soon as possible are:

• Nandankanan to Vidyadharpur via Bidanasi, Barabati, Buxi Bazar, Mangalabag, Ravenshaw
• Phulnakhara to Bidanasi via Badambadi and Alisha Bazar

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Centre would provide Rs716 crore under ‘Viability Gap Funding’ for infrastructure development of the PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region) hub to be set up at Paradip in Orissa.

“The Centre would provide this money in two phases. While Rs388 crore would come in the first phase of the project, the balance Rs328 crore would be provided by the Government of India in the second phase”, an official source told Business Standard.

The funds to be provided by the Centre under ‘Viability Gap Funding’, will be utilized for various infrastructure projects of the PCPI hub like six-laning of NH-5 (A), building a greenfield coastal corridor, construction of all-new greenfield road from Bhubaneswar to Paradip \and upgradation of port infrastructure.

The six-laning of the NH-5 (A) will be taken up in the second phase of the PCPIR project at a cost of Rs76 crore. The greenfield coastal corridor will involve an expenditure of Rs410 crore out of which Rs 264 will be invested in the first phase while the remaining expenditure of Rs146 crore will be incurred in Phase-II.

The construction of all-new greenfield road from Bhubaneswar to Paradip will be taken up at a cost of Rs190 crore while Rs40 crore would be provided by the Centre for upgradation of port infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Orissa government has committed an expenditure of Rs1796 crore on infrastructure development for the PCPIR hub. Out of the envisaged expenditure of Rs1796 crore, Rs 754 crore will be spent on development of arterial roads, Rs 465 crore on water supply, Rs 410 crore on power distribution and Rs136 crore on canal upgradation.

The PCPIR project in the state would be set up on 284.15 sq km (70,214 acres) of land spread over Jagatsnghpur and Kendrapara districts. The PCPIR hub is expected to attract investments to the tune of Rs2.74 lakh crore.

Phase-I work of the project is expected to be completed by 2015 while the entire project is scheduled for commissioning by 2030.

Of the expected overall investment figure of Rs2.74 lakh crore, the lion’s share would come from the petroleum and petrochemicals sectors at Rs2.3 lakh crore followed by housing and allied infrastructure at Rs23,500 crore, external infrastructure at Rs13,634 crore and Rs3,500 crore each for chemicals & fertilizers and ancillary sectors.

The mega project is set to create employment for 6.48 lakh people which includes direct employment for 2.27 lakh people and indirect employment for 4.41 lakh others.

The turnover of this PCPIR hub is estimated at Rs4.23 lakh crore with an export potential of Rs 43,000 crore. The PCPIR hub is expected to generate taxes to the tune of Rs 42,000 crore and contribute six per cent to Orissa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

… This refinery cum petrochemical complex which needs 3300 acres of land, is scheduled for commissioning by March 2012.

The land acquisition process for PCPIR is on the fast track with the state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (Idco), the nodal agency for the project having filed requisition for 90 per cent of the total land requirement in .

This is really great. Especially, the part about a greenfield coastal road.  Odisha has been demanding such a road for a long time. I think eventually it will run all the way from Dhamara-Paradeep-Astaranga-Konark-Puri-Baliharchandi-across Chilika to Gopalpur. From Dhamara to the North they can put this road together with the National Waterway.

Various KBK statistics are known to everyone here as well as to the planning commission. We will not rehash them here. We will just like to point out that various programs in KBK (such as RLTAP) will not work to their potential unless qualified people are willing to be there to implement those programs and unless there are enough local people who are qualified. For example, one can open schools and hospitals and initiate irrigation projects. But if teachers, doctors and engineers do not go there in sufficient numbers to staff the schools, hospitals and irrigation projects they will not achieve their impact. So while we make programs for schools, hospitals and irrigation projects we need to pay attention to the infrastructure aspects that will (a) create enough local teachers, doctors and engineers and (b) will not deter teachers, doctors and engineers to come to this place.

With that in mind we propose that the following be pushed with the central government for implementation in the next 7 years  — the remaining part of the 11th plan and the 12th plan starting in 2012. I think the list below is doable. (Much more needs to be aimed for and done through the state government, industries and people in this region; but here we only focus on what one can realistically push with the central government and achieve.)

1. Railway Infrastructure: The Railway infrastructure of the KBK districts need to be drastically improved. In particular there are several approved lines that need to be speeded up. In addition there are some hanging lines that need to be extended and completed. The following shows the current Railway lines in Odisha.

The following picture shows the lines that bring better rail connectivity to the KBK districts. The ones in brown have been approved and we request that they be completed within the next 2-3 years and. We request that the ones in blue are approved and completed within 5 years.

2. Airport at Jeypore:  Currently Odisha has one airport with commercial flights. That is in Bhubaneswar. AAI is in the process of making another airport at Jharsuguda. We propose that another airport be built near Jeypore-Koraput with commercial flights in mind (small planes to start with) to serve the KBK area. An airstrip is already there.  The following map shows the location and its distance from the other airports in India.

3. Roads: On roads, we request that the construction of the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway be expedited.  More.

4. HRD/Education: The 11th plan has good proposals regarding schools, ITIs and model colleges. But as we said in the beginning of this document, KBK needs to produce its own teachers, doctors and engineers.

As a first step the Odisha government decided to locate the Central University of Odisha in Koraput. However, considering the vast area of KBK, we request the following.

4.1   The 11th plan has provision for having medical colleges and engineering colleges in 5 of the 16 new central universities. (See the page from Volume 3 of 11th plan below.) We request that the one of those medical college and engineering college be established as part of the Central University of Orissa, Koraput.

4.2   A centrally funded engineering college of the kind in Longowal Punjab (SLIET), Kokrajhar Assam and the one being made in Malda (GKCIET): These three centrally funded engineering colleges have rural focus and we request that one such rural focused 3-tier (catering to workers, technicians and engineers) is needed for KBK. We request that it be made in Balangir. In the next page we have cut-outs related to the above mentioned three colleges which show their mission perfectly matches what is needed in the KBK districts.

4.3 Upgradation of Food Craft Institute Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management.

4.4 Some kind of a centrally funded institute in Kalahandi: One has to be realistic in pursuing something that is achievable; something central government has established in smaller towns in other states; something with similar philosophy as SLIET/GKCIET/CIT-Kokrajhar but in a different field.

Added on Dec 11th 2010: I think a Central Agricultural University can be pushed for Kalahandi. Currently a Central Agricultural University exists in Imphal (http://www.cau.org.in/). I came across the news item in http://bundelkhand.in/portal/NEWS/Centre-clears-an-AIIMS-like-institute-for-Jhansi-Bundelkhand that says "the Union agriculture ministry had given the go-ahead to develop a central agriculture university in Jhansi". So a similar one can be pushed for Kalahandi.

4.5 Special funding for proposed state Universities in KBK: The Odisha government higher education task force has recommended new state universities to be made in Jeypore (Koraput), Bhawanipatna (Kalahandi) and Balangir. We request that the central government give a one time 50 crore grant to each of these proposed universities so that they can be started at the earliest.

 5. Job Centers:

• Wagon factory in Kalahandi.
• Tourist infrastructure around Gandhamardan hills and Harishankar.
• Tourist infrastructure around Kolab dam and tribal hamlets of Koraput.

6. KBK+: In addition in the KBK+ district of Kandhamal a branch of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU) can be realistically pursued and achieved.

Final Word: Please make additional suggestions. But be realistic. Also, note that here we are talking about what to pursue with the central government.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Five upcoming flyovers between Baramunda and Palasuni on National Highway 16 will reduce the commuting time of the city’s passengers in the future.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has planned to construct flyovers at important junctions like Fire station, CRP Square, Acharya Vihar, Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh.

These four-lane flyovers are expected to ease traffic problems along the Kolkata-Chennai highway (NH 16).

NHAI project director Aditya Kumar Ray said here today that an agreement was signed between Sri Jagannath Expressway Pvt. Ltd and the NHAI on August 6 for redevelopment project of the 67-kilometre stretch between Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Chandikhol. The five fly-overs are part of the project.

“The total cost of the project would be around Rs 1,250 crore and the construction period will be two and half years. Sri Jagannath Expressway Pvt. Ltd will also take care of the maintenance of the road for 26 years (including the project execution period) as per the agreement,’’ Ray said.

“While the preliminary work will begin from October, the final work will start from December. We will try to make it a point that construction work along the entire stretch finishes on time,” he said.

… “These upcoming flyovers will have controlled access to the highway. Commuters will have to take turns at the respecting connecting roads to reach their destinations. There is also a plan to include construction of new flyovers at Phulnakhara, and Link Road-Khapuria starting from Kathjodi bridge and Manguli,’’ he added.

NH 16, which was earlier NH 5, has been clubbed with NH 60 (the Lakshman Nath-Balasore highway). Gazette notification has already been made on this highway as it falls under the Golden Quadrilateral project.

According to sources, in the past there was a plan by the NHAI to construct three flyovers at Khurda, Khandagiri and Baramunda. However, only the flyover project at Baramunda was realised, while the Khandagiri flyover plan was shifted to Jayadev Vihar to meet public demand.

As mentioned in the last paragraph, currently that stretch of NH-5 (to be called NH 16) has a flyover at Jayadev Vihar and at Baramunda. With the proposed flyovers at Fire station, CRP Square, Acharya Vihar, Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh the stretch from Rasulgarh to Baramunda would be smooth sailing without any traffic stops. See http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100813/images/13zzflyoverbig.jpg for a graphics of this stretch. The flyovers at Phulnakhara, and Link Road-Khapuria would make the streatch from central Cuttack to past Bhubaneswar without any traffic stops.

Following is from a report in Pioneer:

The six-laning work of the Bhubaneswar–Chandikhol portion of the National Highway-5 will begin from September, after this rainy season. A sum of Rs 1,047 crore will be invested for the project under the NHDP Phase-5. A consortium has been formed with three private companies, and the contract awarded, an official of NHAI said.

The consortium of Srei, Gulfar and Simplex Infrastructure would undertake the project, which is scheduled to be completed in two and a half years’ period. This would be done on the BOT basis. After completion of the work, the consortium would maintain the road and collect toll for a period of 26 years.

After the four-laning work of the NH-5, this is the first stretch within Odisha to have six lanes. The distance from Bhubaneswar to Chandikhol is 67 km, which would have seven flyovers and four major bridges over the river Kathjodi, Kuakhai, Mahanadi and Birupa. Out of the seven flyovers, four would be built over the CRP, Acharya Vihar, Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh squares along the highway in Bhubaneswar.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61621.

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved the implementation of the project of four laning of Sambalpur-Orissa/Chhatisgarh section of NH-6 and Bhubaneshwar-Puri Section of NH-203 in the State of Orissa under NHDP Phase III on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT ) pattern.

The total project cost of Sambalpur-Bargarh-Orissa/Chhatisgarh Border is estimated at Rs.909 crore under the DBFO pattern. The concession period of the project shall be for 30 years including a construction period of 30 months.

The total project cost of Bhubaneshwar-Puri section is estimated at Rs.505.29 crore under the DBFO pattern. The concession period of the project shall be for 29 years including a construction period of 30 months.

The project will reduce the time and cost of travel of the traffic, particularly heavy traffic running between Sambalpur to Orissa/Chhatisgarh border and the traffic running from Bhubaneshwar to Puri. It will also increase the potential of employment to local labourers for the project activities.

The project of Sambalpur to Orissa/Chhatisgarh border is major link to the Chhatisgarh and the project of Bhubaneshwar-Puri is major road to link the pilgrim place.

BACKGROUND:

The Cabinet had approved four/six laning of 4000 Km. of National Highways under NHDP Phase IIIA on BOT basis in March, 2005. Subsequently, approval for additional stretches was granted in May, 2006, October, 2006 and April, 2007 for implementation of four laning for a total length of 12109 Km. at an estimated cost of Rs.80626 crore.

See the previous postings on this topic to get a broader picture of highway plans with respect to Odisha. In particular, see the following:

• Plans for four laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela.
• http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2651
• Six laning of Chandikhol-Jagatpur.
• Various four laning projects with maps.
• Fourlaning of Angul-Sambalpur.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Orissa government is proposing to develop a special corridor for coal transportation from the state’s coal-bearing district Angul. The 137 km long corridor, which would be developed with an investment of Rs 5000 crore, will connect coal deposits in Talcher, Angul, Meramundali, and Chendipada.

A state government official in the commerce and transport department said the corridor will be developed with rail and road networks with a view to facilitate coal supply to various industries and also transportation to ports for exports and coastal shipments.

Orissa has proven coal deposits of 6,53,53 mt. The Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd. (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India (CIL), is currently raising about 70 to 90 mt per annum. However, as many private and public sector companies are expected to make their allotted coal block operational, coal traffic from the Angul district is expected to increase manifold.

The state has lined up power plants by 21 IPPs (independent power producers) of a total capacity of 25,000 MW. Besides, a power plant of 4000 MW is coming up under the Ultra Mega Power Project(UMPP) scheme and another 4000 MW is being installed by NTPC. In brown field expansion, the AES-owned Orissa Power Generation Corporation and NTPC are adding 1,320 MW each to their facilities at Ib Valley and Talcher respectively. To add to it, several captive generating plants are being set up by aluminium, steel and ferro-alloys plants in the state. To feed these power plants, at least 142 mt of coal will need to be transported from the pit head to power stations every year. 

Following is from Samaja.

Following ad is from Orissa Business Blog.

The Orissa State Road Project web site is at http://osrp.gov.in/index.htm. It has a nice detailed map of roads in Orissa. The following details is from its "About Us" page.

The State Govt. during January 2005 had proposed to avail loan from World Bank and JBIC (Japan Bank for International Co-operation) for improvement of the state roads. The proposals were sent to the World Bank and JBIC through the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Department of Economic Affairs, Govt. of India.

The proposals were approved by the SLPMC on EAP (State Level Project Monitoring Committee on External Aided Project), chaired by the Chief Secretary, Orissa, on 20.01.05. The preliminary proposals included 27 nos. of road project under World Bank Scheme and 14 road projects under JBIC scheme. The project cost proposed under JBIC was Rs. 715.34 Crores for 805 Km of state road and that under World Bank Rs. 1642.44 Crores for 2197 Km of state road.

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India gave clearance to the proposed World Bank project in their letter dated 07.04.2005 addressed to the State Govt. (Finance Department). However, the proposed JBIC road project has not yet been approved / cleared by the Govt. of India.

After clearance from Govt. of India, a full identification mission from the World Bank comprising Dr.Binyam Reja (Task Team Leader), A.K. Swaminathan (Sr. Transport Specialist), Mohammad Hassan (Sr. Social Development Specialist), and Ernst Hunning (Institutional Development Consultant) visited the State from April 14-22, 2005 to initiate the preparation of the proposed Orissa State Roads Project (OSRP). The mission met with concerned officials of the Government of Orissa (GOO) and senior management of the Orissa Works Department (OWD), and carried out field visits to some of the proposed roads.

During the April 2005 World Bank Identification Mission, it was agreed that, detailed project preparation for the proposed road network shall commence in a phased manner in three phases i.e Phase-I, Phase-II & Phase-III ( Para -11 & Para-27 (b) , (e) : April 2005 Aide Memoir of World Bank).

The World Bank team had discussed with the Finance Department for Plan provisions and necessary counterpart funding. After a detail discussion, the World Bank had agreed to:

                a.         Fund a Project for improvement Road infrastructure amounting to Rs. 1200 Cr. Out of which state has to bear Rs. 200 Cr as counterpart funding. Total World Bank loan ceiling shall be US$ 225 Million.

                b.         High density road corridors having sufficient economic viability of about 1200  1400 Kms shall be included in the project.

                c.         Balance roads shall be identified after carrying out a network analysis and economic viability from the balance 3700 Kms of State Highways in other phases subsequently.

–     At the preliminary stage, identified about 825 Km of Road Stretches to be included in the

Phase-I of the Project. These roads were selected from the earlier dropped project for

which a full-scale techno-economic feasibility study was carried out.

1              Jagatpur  Salepur  Kendrapara  Chandbali  Bhadrak (SH9 & SH 9A) -152 Km

2              Bhadrak  Anandpur  Karanjia  Tongabilla (Jashipur) (SH 53 & SH 49) -142 Km

3              Khariar  Bhawanipatna  Muniguda  Rayagada  Kereda (SH 16, SH 6 & MDR 48b) -213 Km

4              Berhampur  Rayagada (SH 17 & SH 4)          -201 Km

5              Banarpal  Daspalla (MDR 18, MDR 18A & MDR 64)    -89 Km

6              Bhanjanagar -Aska (SH  7)               -38Km

–The World Bank however desired to check the viability of these roads by carrying out an updated techno-economic feasibility study.

–The project also includes identification of road stretches to be taken up in Phase  II of the project after carrying out network analysis for all State roads.

–Accordingly a domestic Consultant has been engaged from Govt of Orissa s own resources to carryout:

1              the Economic viability of Phase  I Roads;

2              the feasibility study & DPR of Phase  I Roads and

3              the network analysis of all State Highways of the State and identification of phase II roads.

   The World Bank Mission had:

–     Agreed for a Project for improvement of about 1200  1400 Km State Roads with a

Project size of Rs. 1480 Cr. (US$ 315 Million) with loan component of Rs. 1175 Cr. (US$

250 Million) and counterpart funding of Rs. 305 Cr. (US$ 65 Million);

The World Bank team again visited the state during September 2005 and inspected the roads proposed by the State Government to finalise roads for inclusion in Phase-I of the project (Para -12 & Para-14 : September 2005 Aide Memoir of World Bank) . During the said visit, some of the important roads proposed under JBIC assistance (Japan Bank for International Co-operation ) was included in the Phase-I list of World Bank roads after discussion with the World Bank, since the proposal submitted to JBIC was not cleared by the Dept. of Economic Affairs, Govt. of India.

1              Jagatpur  Salepur  Kendrapara  Chandbali  Bhadrak (SH9 & SH 9A) -152 Km

2              Bhadrak  Anandpur  Karanjia  Tongabilla (Jashipur) (SH 53 & SH 49) -138Km

3              Khariar  Bhawanipatna  Muniguda  Rayagada  Kereda (SH 16, SH 6 & MDR 48b) -223 Km

4              Berhampur  JK Pur _ Rayagada (SH 17 & SH 4)          -202 Km

5              Banarpal  Daspalla -Bhanjanagar -Aska (MDR 18, MDR 18A & MDR 64,SH  7)) -201Km

Approval from Hon ble Chief Minster to the roads proposed under Phase-I of World Bank scheme, covering a total length of 835 Km was obtained during October 2005, so as to proceed for detailed feasibility, economic analysis and other associated studies for Detailed Project Preparation and bidding. The major criteria used for selection of these roads were traffic volume, carriageway width, pavement conditions, economic activity in the influence area of the road, and connectivity of the roads.

Subsequently, after consideration of the Feasibility Study prepared by the DPR Consultant, the World

Bank Mission during their visit to the State in November 6-10, 2006 have decided to improve the

following roads in the Year  I of the Project.

1              Chandabali  Bhadrak  Anandapur

2              Khariar  Bhawanipatana

3              Berhampur  Taptapani

The World Bank had suggested to carryout detail economic viability and feasibility study for the 835 Km roads proposed under Phase-1 and Network Analysis of the entire State Highway Network ( covering about 3955 Km, leaving 835 Km Phase-1 roads ) for identification / prioritization of 1600 Km roads for improvement in Phase-II & Phase-III ( Para -11 & Para-27 (a), (e) : April 2005 Aide Memoir of World Bank). They had suggested to use the latest traffic and road condition survey data so as to assess which roads should fall under rehabilitation, and which roads should fall under upgrading in the detailed economic analysis.

Accordingly, economic viability and detailed feasibility study for the 835 Km roads proposed under Phase-1 and Network Analysis of the entire State Highway Network ( covering about 3955 Km, leaving 835 Km Phase-1 roads ) for identification / prioritization of 1600 Km roads for Phase-II & Phase-III were carriedout with help of a domestic consultants. M/S CEG Ltd from Rajasthan. The economic justifications of proposed road improvements under Phase-1 have been analyzed by using the life cycle costing economic tool ! Highway Development and Management Model (HDM-4) version 1.3" of World Bank. The economic evaluation has been carried out on the basis of incremental costs and benefits comparing the total net benefits with various alternatives. The economic indicators like NPV (Net Present Value) and EIRR ( Economic Internal Rate of Return) are then calculated. The final list of roads included in Phase-I alongwith summary of their techno-economic analysis with NPV, EIRR and ratio of NPV and cost etc. is shown at Annexure-I: The EIRR of each of the five corridors under Phase-1 varies from 30.53% to 17.28% with NPV of Rs 13172.8 million. It may be noted that the roads with EIRR more than 12% are considered financially viable under the World Bank loan.

 The World Bank had further intimated that the Project shall include

I was browsing through the web pages of the Project Report on Indian National Expressway Network at http://www.morth.nic.in/writereaddata/sublinkimages/Final_Report_Part13901147970.pdf

It is a masterplan for Indian National Expressway network developed by Craft consultants which was probably hired by the Ministry. The final version of it is dated November 2009.

In that report, they have mentioned feedback received from various states such as Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan and UP. They have taken this feedback into account in making their masterplan.

Unfortunately, Orissa is missing in the list. In other words Orissa probably did not give them any feedback or if it did then not in time.

As a result there is no new expressway in Orissa during the first phase ending 2012. (The GQ is not counted as part of the first phase.) In the second phase  (2012-2017) Orissa has a very very small portion. Only in the third and 4th phase is there a substantial portion in Orissa. Even then there is no east west expressway connecting the capital area with western Orissa directly. Such connectivity between the capital area and western Orissa is extremely significant.

This is gross negligence on the part of Orissa to not have sent feedback to correct the above slights in the master plan for the expressways.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

The road, transport and highways ministry (MoRTH), which has sought a $3 billion loan from the World Bank for this project, has already finalized 3,769 km to be taken up for double laning. The ministry has also identified another 2,600 km for this purpose.

Seven stretches covering 807 km of single-lane highways would be doubled in Bihar while nearly 638 km of single-lane NH falling in Himachal Pradesh would be upgraded. Orissa and Uttarakhand will see 558 km and 448 km of similar stretches being upgraded.

Sources said the preliminary report prepared by the ministry for other stretches shows that HP would get a good share in the list of states to be covered under the plan. Similarly, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Orissa will see large stretches being double-laned.

I could not find out which highways in Orissa are part of this. Some of the sites to watch for are:

• What’s New
• World bank funded highways

Following is a map of the National Highways in Orissa obtained from the Ministry of Road and Transport’s website.

Tathya.in has some interesting tidbits on this. Following is an excerpt.

Minister was speaking in the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) on 17 November.

HLCA Chaired by Naveen Patnaik cleared the proposal of 4-laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela Highway on PPP Mode with an investment of Rs.1270 crore.

He said by slapping tool tax on the commuters and funding the project is passé.

Now while roads are coming up in a big way, lands are identified at some vantage points by the side of the roads.

These places can be handed over to the developers so that they can develop shopping malls, housing projects and this should be included in the package.

And this initiative will lessen the burden of tax payers, who are forced to pay huge toll tax for years to come.

Secondly Minister said that while we are going for expansion of the Highways, encroachment of land is posing a big problem.

… It would be a better proposition to acquire land and lay the road in such a way that more space is left inwards.

So that later that space can be used for expansion of roads and no body will be able to encroach upon and inside the highway, said the Minister.

Following is culled from various news reports: Expressbuzz.com, Orissadiary and Pragativadi.

1. Current fiscal: Broaden and repair the roads connecting from Cuttack-Banki, Barkot-Lahunipada, Balangir- Kantabanjhi, Chorada- Duburi and Udala -Baripada, Jharsuguda-Sambalpur.
2. Bridges would be constructed near Bhubana on Brahamni river, near Jagadalpur on Anga river in Padmapur, near Jatamudia on Mahanadi river, Lalitgiri Setu on Birupa river, at Jhiripani on Koyel river and Burla Buguda Pali on Ghoda river.
3. Road connecting to Cuttack and Paradip would be completed by June 2010. Of the 81 km, repair works in 29 km roads have been completed.
4. The 91 km road connecting to Pandapada-Naranapada in Keonjhar district would be completed by 2011.
5. Steps would be taken to complete the road connecting to Khurda and Balangir by 2010.
6. The fly-over near in the busy Rajmahal Square in Bhubaneswar would be completed within two years.
7. Vanivihar-Rajmahal Road in Bhubaneswar will be converted to an eight lane road.
8. Tender has already been completed for construction of E-Procurement Cell at Cuttack,Construction Academy Buildings at Gopalpur, Parala Maharaja Engineering College at Brahmapur,Engineering College at Bhawanipatna, Agriculture College and Horticulture at Chipilima.
9. The Vijayawada-Ranchi National Highway passing through 13 tribal dominated districts of the State will be completed by 2014.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today reviewed the progress of different road and bridge projects at a high level meeting.Out of the 1,219 km long highway, 983 kilometre falls in Orissa and will be constructed by the State Government.

Following are some of the items mentioned in the article below:

• The 2.5 km from Vani Vihar to Master Canteen will be made 8 lanes. (Janpath from NH 5 to Mahatma Gandhi marg) This will be the second 8 lane segment in Bhubaneswar after the Sainik School to Acharya Vihar segment. (Sachivalaya marg from NH 5 to Sainik School)
• The six lane road from airport to KIIT will be extended all the way up to Nandan Kanan.
• A flyover from Lingaraj station to Pokhariput is planned.
• Another flyover from Rasulgarh to Sainiki School via Mancheswar Railway workshop and VSS Nagar is planned.
• A road from Nandan Kanan Lake to Trishulia through Barang bypass
• Fourlaning from Siripur to Fire station (Azad marg)

The site is http://www.odishabusservice.com/index.php and it seems nicely made and looks useful.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

In order to bring about a more inclusive growth in Orissa through improved transport and irrigation facilities, the World Bank has earmarked $444 million (around Rs 2,200 crore) assistance package for the state.

The package comprises three projects that will aim to improve the state’s road network (with an allocation of $250 million or Rs 1,225 crore), its agricultural tank systems ($112 or Rs 548 crore) and increase livelihood opportunities for its rural poor ($ 82.4 million or Rs 404 crore).

“The emphasis is not only to build on what has been achieved so far, but also target inclusion of the poorest of the poor,” said Roberto Zagha, World Bank country director for India, in a statement.

“These projects will bring in lessons learned from roads, tanks and livelihood projects across India and help Orissa provide its poor better access to finance, improve the efficiency of the transport systems and increase the availability of water for its farmers,” he added.

Despite doing well on economic front, especially in the mining, agriculture and services sectors, Orissa remains one of India’s poorest states with nearly half of its 38 million people living under the official poverty line, most of them in rural areas.

Under the $250 million Orissa state road project, efforts would be made to remove bottlenecks in transport corridors. The project will also increase the role of private sector in road infrastructure, and assist the state government in establishing an institutional framework in the sector.

Only 22 per cent of the state’s roads are paved, even as most village and district roads remain unconnected to the national highway system. “An efficient road transport system is critical for improving the state’s investment climate and promoting a private-sector-led economic growth,” said Binyam Reja, World Bank senior transport economist and task leader for this project.

The Orissa community tanks management project, which is worth $112 million will rehabilitate about 900 tanks covering a cultivable area of about 120,000 hectares spread across 29 districts of the state. This is expected to increase productivity in agriculture, livestock and fisheries, and promote more effective and sustainable management of tank systems.

The project will support improvements in production technologies and management practices, and better market linkages. It will also strengthen community-based institutions, enabling them to assume greater responsibility for tank management.

The Orissa rural livelihoods project aims to empower the rural poor, especially women and disadvantaged groups, through their inclusion in self-help groups (SHGs). These groups are the primary mechanism for channeling microfinance to the poor in the state. The project will also support creating new SHGs and strengthening existing groups.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47065.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved for the six laning of following nine stretches for a total length 1409.93 km costing Rs.18238.05 crore under NHDP Phase V on DBFOT basis:

No.	Section	State	NH No.	Length	Total Project Cost including cost of LA, R&R, pre- constr. (Rs. crore)	Concession Period in-cluding construction period of 30 months
1	Delhi-Agra	UP/Haryana	2	179.10	2494.00	26 years
2	Kishangarh-Udaipur	Rajasthan	79A, 79 & 76	315	3597.47	29 years
3	Chandikhol-Jagatpur-Bhubaneshwar	Orissa	5	67.00	1104.00	27 years
4	Vijayawada-Elluru-Rajamundri	Andhra Pradesh	5	198.20	2751.15	30 years
5	Varanasi-Aurangabad	UP	2	192.40	2974.75	30 years
6	Nellore-Chilkaluripet	Andhra Pradesh	5	183.7	2433.90	30 years
7	Krishnagiri-Walahjpet	Tamil Nadu	46	148.30	1673.17	30 years
8	Belgaum-Dharwad	Karnataka	4	80.18	707.61	30 years
9	Indore-Dewas	MP	3	45.05	502.00	30 years

            The project will be developed by the NHAI through the PPP and the Concessionaire will be selected by NHAI following two stage bidding process.  The first stage of the bidding process i.e., pre-qualification of the bidders has already been completed by NHAI.  The second stage of bidding is in process.

Note, that Jajpur-Rd Duburi is also being 4-laned. With all these 4-laning, Kalinganagar area will be surrounded by four 4-lane segment: NH-5, NH-200, NH-215 and Jajpur Rd-Duburi.

(The above map fragment is from an wikipedia map.)

There will also be two four lane paths from Kalinganagar area to Rourkela.

 With approved plans to four-lane NH 42 between Angul and Sambalpur, the state govt. needs to four lane the segment between Angul and Talcher to have a seamless 4-lane transition between NH-42 and NH-200 at Angul-Talcher.

There is plan to four-lane Bhubaneswar-Puri. The Orissa government should pursue the four-laning of the following:

• NH-42 from Cuttack to Angul
• NH-23 from Talcher to NH-6

The Orissa government should team up with Jharkhand to 4-lane

• NH-23 from Rourkela to Ranchi
• NH-83 from Jamshedpur to NH-6
• NH-5 between NH-6 and Balasore (the last two need for port access in the upcoming ports in the Balasore district)

The Orissa government should team up with West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Maharashtra for four-laning NH-6 completely.

These actions will 4-lane the upper part of Orissa with fairly direct 4-lane paths from many areas of Orissa to Delhi and Mumbai. (Fairly direct 4-lane connections exist between Orissa to the south and Kolkata.)

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=46329.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for the development of 4 laning of (i) Panikoili-Keonjhar-Rimouli, (ii) Rimouli-Roxy-Rajmundra sections of NH-215 and (iii) Chandikhole-Duburi-Talcher Section of NH-200 in the State of Orissa under NHDP Phase III A on BOT Basis.

The project cost of (i) Panikoili-Keonjhar-Rimouli section (163 km) is estimated as Rs.1170.59 crore including Rs.84.40 crore towards Land Acquisition (LA), Rehabilitation and Resettlement and preconstruction. Similarly, the estimated cost for Rimouli-Roxy-Rajmundra (106 km) and Chandikhole-Duburi-Talcher Section (133 km) are Rs.849.05 crore and Rs.969.63 crore respectively. The cost towards LA, R&R and preconstruction of other two projects are Rs.195.29 crore and Rs.185.63 crore respectively. The Government would provide the viability gap funding (VGF), which would not exceed 40% of the total project cost excluding the cost of LA, R&R and pre-construction.

The project will be developed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through the Private Sector Concessionaires who will be selected by NHAI following two stage bidding process. The first stage of the bidding process i.e. pre-qualification of the bidders has already been completed by NHAI. The second stage of bidding process is in progress.

The Concession period for the Panikoili-Keonjhar-Rimouli section will be 20 years. For Chandikhole-Duburi-Talcher Section and Rimouli-Roxy-Rajmundra section the concession period is 18 and 25 years respectively.

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