Following is from a report in Steelguru.com.

… to augment the availability of iron ore, particularly in the context of number steel plants being proposed to come up in the state, the Orissa government plans to intensify exploration of iron ore at different locations of mineral rich Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts to identify new reserves.

The exploration work be taken up during the current year include the northern part of the Baliapahar iron ore deposits and Mandajorha area in Sundergarh district and outer Malangatoli area of Keonjhar district.

The directorate of geology of the Orissa government has decided to take up assessment of the iron ore lying in the northern part of Baliapahar iron ore deposit in the Sundergarh district. It will delineate the unexplored iron ore bodies in this area through survey and large scale mapping and then take up assessment of reserves through drilling.

Though this area was investigated earlier in 2 phases in 1971-74 and 1991-95 through mapping and core drilling, the drilling of the northern part was not complete. It has also been decided to go for preliminary appraisal of the iron ore occurrences to the west of Malangtoli and north-eastern part of the Mandajorha area.

As per report, this area was identified as the unexplored block during the last field season through inventory work. It is proposed to take up investigation of the area around Malungi and Mandajoraha during the current field season.

Sources added that there are plans to continue and complete the investigation program in the unexplored blocks in the Koira sector of the Sundergarh district for iron ore reserves. Geological mapping around Lasi, Jilkura, Marchidihi is proposed to be taken up during the current field season. Similarly, the government also plans to start the investigation of the iron ore around Rakma-Marsuan in outer Malangtoli area in Keonjhar district.

Sources further added that geological mapping and sampling will be taken up to locate iron ore bodies in this area which was prospected by the Geological Survey of India in the 1960s. Since the area is located in the vicinity of Bonai shoe iron ore synclinorium and very close to Malangtoli iron ore complex, the government feels that geological investigation will be beneficial from the point of view of exploration.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

Orissa government’s Single Window Committee on Thursday cleared 13 industrial projects involving a total investment of Rs 27,193 crore. It includes three power projects, one steel, two cement, five iron ore beneficiation and pelletisation, on photo cell and one brewery projects.

… The big-ticket projects recommended to HLCC are Visakha Thermal Power Plant, Hind Bharat Energy, Lanco Solar, JSW Steel, Bhusan Power & Steel Ltd, Astarang Power Company Ltd and Welspun Steel Ltd.

While Astarang Power Company Ltd is planning to set up a 2640 mw plant in Puri district with an investment of Rs 11,200 crore, Visakha is proposing to set up an 1100 mw plant in Bhadrak district entailing an investment of Rs 4800 crore. The Hind Bharat Energy is proposing to enhance the capacity of its power project at Jharsuguda to 700 mw from 250 mw investing Rs 3150 crore. Bhusan Power & Steel, on the other hand, is setting up steel facilities for cold rolling steel, wire, rod, galvanised steel besides cement at Sambalpur, with an investment of Rs 2000 crore.

Welspun has plans to set up a 4.5m tonne per annum (mtpa) iron ore beneficiation and pelletisation plant in Bhadrak district with an investment of Rs 1900 crore. Simultaneously, JSWA is proposing to set up a 7 mtpa iron ore beneficiation plants and a 5 mtpa pelletisation plant in Sundergarh district investing Rs 1450 crore.

Among the projects cleared by the panel, Bhusan Steel Ltd is going to put up facilities for 4 mtpa iron ore beneficiation and pelletisation in Keonjhar district with an investment of Rs 850 crore.

Following is the news report on the discussion (almost a confrontation) with the Railway Board Chair, as reported in India Abroad.

The basic premise behind our grievances against Indian Railways and our demands is simple.

• Indian railways is scheduled to make 2500-3000 crores/year from Orissa, but spends only 1000 crores/year on Orissa in terms of new lines, doubling and gauge conversion.
• Its current plan for major spending includes freight corridors, metro rails, and high speed rails, none of which touch Orissa. It plans to do gauge conversion of 12000 kms, most of which is unprofitable (this proves that Indian Railway lies when it says it only does profitable lines), very little (less than 100 km) of which is in Orissa.
• Orissa is already behind the national average in terms of rail density and way behind its neighbors such as West Bengal and Bihar. If no changes are made to the 11th plan IR allocations Orissa will further fall behind.
• Indian Railways must not take money from its profit in Orissa, and spend it else where, until it takes care of proper connectivity to Orissa’s tribal, backward and maoist infested areas. The 2500-3000 times 5 = 12,500 -15,000 crore that Indian Railways will profit from Orissa during the 11th plan must be spend in new lines in Orissa until the (i)-(v) lines below and other port and mine connectivity lines are completed during the 11th plan.
• To Mr. Jena’s retort that Mumbai earns so much in taxes and not all of it is spent in Mumbai; we reply that it is often acceptable to take from rich and give to poor; But when did it become acceptable to take from poor (Orissa) and give to rich (freight corridors etc. in other states)?

The lines in Orissa connecting to the tribal and backward areas that we demand to be finished during the 11th plan are:

• (i) Khurda Rd - Nayagarh - Balangir: Lack of connectivity was one of the reasons a recent Maoist mayhem happened in Nayagarh. It seems after recent events, including the confrontation with the Railway Board Chair and various dharanas in Bhubaneswar, IR has started responding to this demand, but not to the extent to promise its completion during the 11th plan. Note that Balangir is the B in the KBK districts that are the most backward in India.
• (ii) Lanjigarh Rd - Junagarh - Nabarangpur - Jeypore - Malkangiri - Bhadrachalam Rd in Andhra Pradesh: Only small part of this is approved. Most of it is not even surveyed. In the long run this will really bring those parts of Orissa closer to the rest of Orissa. This is the most important connection and has to be take care of at the earliest. Like the approved Vijaywada-Ranchi highway, this line will create an alternative Hyderabad - Ranchi path passing through backward and tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand. This line will connect the Kalahandi and Koraput districts, the two K’s in KBK. The recent Maoist attack and killing of the Greyhound forces in Malkangiri might have been prevented if this line existed as then the forces would have used the train rather than being seating ducks taking a boat across a lake in Malkangiri.
• (iii a) Rayagada - Gopalpur: This has been surveyed and but work on it has not started. Note that Rayagada is part of the undivided Koraput district, one of the K’s of KBK. This line could come under port connectivity and will be a viable line connecting the industries near Rayagada with the upcoming port in Gopalpur.
• (iii b) Gunupur - Theruvali: This will add to the Naupada-Gunupur line and make it an economically viable line. (IR and Mr. Jena agree about its importance.) This line will be completely inside the Raygada district, part of the undivided Koraput district, one of the K’s of KBK.
• (iv) Talcher - Bimlagarh (connectivity to the tribal district of Sundergarh): This line has been approved but is only being given a few crores each year, which is less than the inflation. This line will reduce the distance between Sundergarh district and teh coastal areas significantly. For example, it will make Rourkela only 4-5 hrs from Bhubaneswar.
• (v) Baripada/Buramara - Chakulia: This line will connect the tribal district of Mayurbhanj to tribal areas of Jharkhand. It will add to the Rupsa-Baripada-Bangiriposi line and make it an economically viable line. (IR and Mr. Jena agree about its importance.)

All these lines can be completed if Indian railways just suspends its practice of taking from poor (Orissa) and giving to the rich for only a few years (may be just 3-4 years). The following maps show the above mentioned lines.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest business houses of the country having interests in sectors like aluminium, telecom, cement, textiles, fertiliser, mining, retail, finance and insurance plans to invest about Rs 75,000 - 80,000 crore in Orissa.

The proposed amount will be invested in sectors like aluminium,cement, telecom and retail sectors in the state over next few years.

… Birla, who was here to discuss some project related issues with the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, the company also intends to launch its retail business in Orissa as part of its national roll out plan. It will be launched within the next 6 months.

… Stating that the projects are proceeding well, he said, the company is committed to a lot of social work like setting up ITIs and health centres at the project sites.

… Regarding the resistance of the local people to the alumina refinery project Utkal Alumina at Raygada, the group chairman said, a lot of projects are facing the same problem. The company has sought the state government’s intervention in resolving the issue.

He said, ABG took over the company four years ago from Alcan Inc and the company has complied with the rehabilitation and resettlemnet (R& R) package given to it. He, however, was non-commital about any additional package for the project affected people.

" We can not commit on the new package. As long as there is reasonable settlement we will be happy", he pointed out.

Regarding the possibility of investing in the port sector of the state, Birla said, the company is persuing the matter with the Orissa government and is expecting a positive outcome.

It may be noted, Essel Mining, a group company of the ABG had earlier proposed the state government to set up a port at Chudamani. However, the state government had not accepted its proposal.

The major projects of the group in Orissa include Utkal Alumina refinery at Raygada, Hindalco’s alumina smelter and power plant at Sambalpur and 3.5 million tonne per annum cement plant in Sundergarh district.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

An 11-member team comprising industrialists from Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is on a three-day visit to Orissa to explore possibilities of investments in ancillary industries. The team on Wednesday visited the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex at Dubri in Jajpur district.

Orissa is now focusing on ancillary units of mega projects that are coming up in the state with a view to further value addition and employment generation.

While the proposed Jindal Stainless Steel Downstream Park (SEZ) at Kalinga Nagar is the focus, the government is also promoting the Choudwar Industrial estate to the visitors. Orissa is keen to have ancillary industries in Rourkela, Sambalpur, Paradip and Dhamra regions in addition to the Somnathpur Industrial Estate in Balasore.

The steel SEZ (JSSL) is to come up on 300 acres near the 1.6 mtpa steel plant project of Jindal Stainless, and will house industries to move up the value chain by churning out specific products for different sectors. Investment in the SEZ is envisaged to be to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore.

A study conducted by JSSL and international consultancy firm CB Richard Elis has pointed out that the precision cold rolling, pipes and tubes, auto components, engineering products, kitchenware and lifestyle products hold much promise.

"Advantages of setting up projects in Orissa are manifold as it is at the core of emerging Markets in eastern India comprising West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and north east", the director industries, Hemanta Sharma, told the visiting industries. It is also the gateway to the Southeast Asian countries in terms of exports, he added.

The state government had lined up a comprehensive package including incentives and concessions to promote ancillary enterprises, Sharma said.

Asserting profitability of the ventures here, CEO of Jindal Stainless SS Virdi said applications of steel are growing faster compared with any metals as per capita consumption (PCC) is on the rise. In India, the PCC is only 1.1 kg compared with 15-20 kg in developed countries.

The following list is from www.orissatourism.gov.in/new/Identified_Tourist_Centre_of_Orissa_261207.pdf.

Exchange4media reports that Radio Choklate is on air in Rourkela. Following is an excerpt from that report.

Radio Choklate, the radio initiative of Oriya daily ‘Sambad’ from Eastern Media Pvt Ltd, has gone on air in Rourkela recently. Monica Nayyar Patnaik, Director, Eastern Media Ltd, said, “We are quite well-known in Orissa, and we feel really proud to enter new markets here with our FM channel. Our objective is to make more cities of this state listen to Odisha’s Apna No. 1.”

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

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

Following is an excerpt from http://www.indiaprwire.com/.

BIG 92.7 FM, India’s No.1 Radio station today announced the latest edition to its kitty, with the launch of its Station in Rourkella. The launch of BIG 92.7 FM in the City marks the launch of the 43rd Station of the network. …

In Rourkela, BIG RJ’s Rajiv, Priyanka, Sneha and Shaheen will be entertaining the steel city of Orissa.

The joyride will start at 5am with Aradhana followed by Breakfast show BIG Chai 6am -9 am. Other shows include Hello Zindagi, Ring Road 927, Thoda Gyan Thodi Masti, Evening Masala and Direct Dil Se.

To ensure the highest aspirational appeal and connect with its listeners, BIG 92.7 FM has Abhishek Bachchan as the Brand Ambassador.

Commenting on the station’s entry into Rourkela, Mr. Soumen Ghosh Choudhury, Regional Head East, BIG 92.7 FM, said “We are very excited about launching in the city of Rourkela. We are the first private radio station in the region to do so. The programming mix of the Station with programmes like Aradhana, BIG Chai, Hello Zindagi, Ring Road 927, Thoda Gyan Thodi Masti, Evening Masala and Direct Dil Se have been put together after much research and understanding of local requirements. It is our aim to create content that is relevant, credible and has an aspirational value for the listeners. We are completely geared and are eagerly looking forward to entertaining the city of Rourkela. We are sure the city will welcome us with open arms and will enjoy the programmes on our Station.”

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and neighbouring towns will be developed into a greater urban complex of international standards catering to the needs of 42 lakh people by 2030.

The final perspective plan to this effect was presented to chief minister Naveen Patnaik here today by a team from IIT, Kharagpur. B.K. Sengupta, heading the team, said the comprehensive development plan for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Choudwar, Khurda and Jatni would be ready by August 2008.

Subsequently, development plans would be prepared for places like Rourkela, Puri, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Talcher-Angul, Kalinga Nagar and Jharsuguda industrial complex, said state urban development minister K.V. Singhdeo.

The final perspective plan has envisaged comprehensive development of a greater urban complex comprising twin cities of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and three adjoining towns spread over 721sqkm at an estimated cost of Rs 34,000 crore.

The required funds would be mobilised through public-private partnership, central government and state government and community contribution, said the urban development minister.

While 11 special zones have been earmarked for extensive development, four have been identified for intensive development and three places (Old Bhubaneswar, Choudwar and Old Cuttack) having heritage value have been set aside for restricted development. Seven sensitive pockets have also been identified.

A patch of farmland on the east of the Kuakhai flowing near Bhubaneswar has also been earmarked for agriculture. The final perspective plan has dwelt on various aspects like transport, traffic decongestion, upgrade of road system, slum development and drainage. Construction of overhead bridges and bypass and the upgrade of road systems have also been planned.

Drainage and sewerage development has also been planned in the twin cities.

A solid waste management plant has been proposed in Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar-Cuttack would be made slum-free. The shanties would be removed and the dwellers would be resettled in planned rehabilitation colonies to be built by private builders on the Dharavi model in Mumbai.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Orissa, one of the major coal producing states in India, would get a second ultra mega thermal power project to be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 16,000 crore.

The Union power minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, made this announcement …

Shinde said he had discussed the proposal with chief minister Naveen Patnaik today and he had agreed to it.

The Union minister did not specify the location of the proposed ultra mega power project.

However, he said it would be set up somewhere along the coastal belt.

This would be the second ultra mega power project in the state. Earlier, a 4,000MW ultra mega power project to be set up in Sundargarh district was cleared by the Centre.

Shinde said the entire coal required for the second ultra mega power project would be exported from abroad, while captive coal block had been allotted for the first plant.

Land and other inputs like water would be provided by the state government, said the state energy minister, Surya Narayan Patro.

The Centre has proposed to have 10 ultra mega power projects across the country with a capacity of 4,000MW each to bridge the gap in meeting 11th plan capacity addition target.

… “We will achieve the 78,579MW power addition target in the current Five Year Plan. The government would invest Rs 10,00,000 crore to achieve the capacity addition target and we would try to cross this target in this plan period,” he said.

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report on this.

A three member survey team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Friday made a spot assessment of the Rourkela airstrip to find out the feasibility of re-introduction of air connectivity to the city.

Led by senior civil aviation consultant and former executive director of AAI D P Chakravorty the team comprised Air Traffic Controller (East) Timir Bandhopadhyay and AAI’s Chief of Communication R K Chandra.

They have reportedly expressed satisfaction over the existing infrastructure.

The team found the airstrip infrastructre here better than that at Ranchi and Jamshedpur. The team, however, felt the need for a passenger terminal besides further strengthening of the existing fire services.

Following is from Team Orissa’s September 2007 newsletter.

Following are excerpts from an article in Pioneer written by Susim C Sahani.

Susim C Sahani | Sundargarh

Despite decade-old debates and agitations, the most sought-after Bimlagarh-Talcher rail link is still a distant dream for this tribal-dominated district. However, if the railway project sees the light of the day, it can help reduce the distance between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from 180 km to 150 km besides providing the most viable transport links to the potential mines zone in the district to the port in Paradip.

The rail-link project has been eluding the locals here since 1955. With the inception of Rourkela Steel Plant, a 75-km-long rail route was set up linking Rourkela to Barsuan for the iron ore mines in Bonaigarh sub-division. The tribals, inhabiting the villages all along this rail route, have been deprived of passenger train facilities although the iron-loaded goods trains have stoppages at stations like Roxy and Bimlagarh. In what seems to be an imitation of a common sight in Bihar and Jharkhand, the tribals here too board the iron-ore loaded wagons of the freight trains. If the goods train tragedy a year-and-half ago that killed over 20 persons on this route, including an eight-year-old tribal boy, is any indication, then tribals travelling this way is likely to cause more fatal accidents in the coming days.

Sources said the Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL), now rechristened as Steel Authority of India (SAIL), in collaboration with Germany, had conducted an aerial survey for the Rourkela Steel Plant and the German experts then had strongly recommended the Bimlagarh-Talcher rail-link project, linking Rourkela with Paradip Port via Talcher. The rail-route was also expected to make mineral transportation more economical by direct rail links to the key mining zones of the State with Paradip Port and to the mines of Ranchi and Bokaro.

Unfortunately, due to the feeble leadership in Orissa, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru could not be convinced about the utility of such a promising project. …

Update: The PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=33543 is a Rajya Sabha answer on this topic.

Following are excerpts from a Times of India report.

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on Wednesday unveiled plans to expand and modernise the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) with an investment of Rs 7,800 crore. RSP, which presently has a capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per annum, would be converted into a four MTPA facility by June, 2010. Its production would be further enhanced to eight MTPA by 2019-20, said company’s director (personnel and raw materials) G Ojha here. According to Ojha, RSP’s expansion is part of SAIL’s plan to invest Rs 49,000 crore in its different units and mines within the next three to three-and-half years. … Ojha said that post-expansion, SAIL’s production capacity would touch 26 MTPA of hot metal compared to its existing capacity of 14.6 MTPA. This would mean 23 MTPA of saleable steel," he informed. The company also intends to spend a substantial sum of money to improve its mining operations, including over Rs 1,100 crore in Orissa, he added. Regarding SAIL’s recent MoU with South Korean company Posco, the director said, "We want to indulge in exchange of technology and people. "We also plan collaboration in research and development activities and accordingly, an eight-member team, comprising four from each company, has been formed. This is just the beginning," he said. He allayed fears that the MoU could lead to SAIL’s privatisation and clarified that the pact was not legally enforceable and just an understanding for collaboration. … The SAIL director also reiterated the company’s interest to takeover the Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) in Orissa’s Jajpur district and said, IDBI, as an independent valuer, has already assessed the company’s worth. "In case the stakeholders (MMTC and Orissa government) have any reservations, then we are ready for further parleys. But, ideally, the valuers version should be honoured," he said.

Following is an excerpt from a Pragativadi report.

The state government has decided to set up seven seeds centre in the state to enable the farmers to avail quality seeds without further delay.

According to official sources, the centres would come up at Ganjam, Angul, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Balasore Jajpur and Bhubaneswar.

With this, the total seed centres in the state would go up to nine with two such centres that have been already set up at Rayagada and Bargarh.

The two centres provide certificates on the certified seeds to the farmers.
Apart from this, another centre functioning at Bhubaneswar has been entrusted with checking the quality of seeds.

The state government has also decided to impart training to the farmers about the use of modern cultivation for which it is now contemplating on roping in the National Farmer Extension Management Organisations.

The following ad in Samaja gives highlights of two recently launched schemes in agriculture:

• National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
  • The 15 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Rice scheme (as given in page 40 of the above document) are Angul, Balangir, Boudha, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Nawapara, Nawarangpur, Nayagarh, Phulbani, and Sundargarh.
  • The 10 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Pulse scheme (as given in page 43 of the above document) are Balangir, Baragarh, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Rayagada.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY)

Follow are excerpts from a Statesman report.

The high powered committee headed by chief secretary Mr Ajit Tripathy today cleared 16 investment proposals, entailing an investment of approximately Rs 30,000 crore.

The projects mainly in the power, steel, aluminium and cement sectors were amongst the 40 project proposals placed before the committee. There were three steel and three power projects amongst the 16 which got the nod today.

Significantly while the Ashapura mines chemicals project proposal for a aluminium refinery was approved, the aluminium project of IMFA Group headed by Dr Bansidhar Panda was held up.

… two task forces had been constituted to further evaluate the proposals in the cement and power sectors. The Industry secretary will head the task force for cement sector projects while the development commissioner will be in charge of the task force for power projects, …

The power projects cleared by the committee today included the Bhusan Energy project which intends to establish a 2,000 MW thermal power plant at Angul with an investment of Rs 8,483 crore. The Visa Power Limited’s 1,000 mw Thermal Power plant at Brhamnabasta in Cuttack district at a cost of Rs 3,698 crore was also cleared while the third power project was of Monnet Energy at Sundergarh. It will be a 1,000 mw plant.

The Rs 4,232 crore aluminium project of Ashpura Mines Chemicals to come up in Koraput district was cleared. It aims at setting up a 5 lakh ton refinery and a 1.5 lakh ton smelter plant besides having a 300 MW captive power plant .

The Committee approved the three new steel plant projects and the expansion of existing five steel projects in the state.

Bonei Industry company’s project to set up a plant at Sundergarh at a cost of Rs 302 crore, M/s Rungta Sons Ltd’s proposal to set up a steel plant at Barmunda at a cost of Rs 930 crore and Free Grade company Ltd’s steel plant at Dhenkanal at a cost of Rs 603 crore were also cleared.

Expansion proposals of SMC Power Generation and MSP Mettalics at Jharsuguda, Braja Ispat, Rourkela and the Keonjhar Orient Ispat were given the go ahead by the committee.

ACC Cement’s proposal for investment of Rs 400 crore for its capacity development was approved while Goa Carbons Ltd’s proposal for a CPC coke plant with an investment of Rs 225 crore was also cleared.

(1) ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address (available at http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php) while talking about ECOR, said:

 “With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.”

(2) From http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/messages

For the 2003-2004 and 2004-05 the working expense as part of gross earnings of the ECOR zone is the second best at 66.64% and 61.75% respectively.

• The profit making zones in those years were
  • South east central (62.8% and 56.1%),
  • ECOR (66.64% and 61.75%),
  • North central (76.33% and 66.71%),
  • Central (80.29% and 82.48%),
  • South eastern (81.24% and 83.51%),
  • South Central (85.72% and 83.62%),
  • West Central (80.99% and 84.08%),
  • South Western (91.35% and 86.15%),
  • Western (93.21% and 90.85%),
  • Northern (91.08% and 92.89%) and
  • East Central (93.65% and 98.9%).

• The loss making zones were:
  • metro Kolkata (247% and 264.38%),
  • North Eastern (151.93% and 160.88%),
  • Northeast Frontier (147.98% and 159.45%),
  • Eastern (161.3% and 152.84%),
  • Southern (118.55% and 120.79%) and
  • North Western ( 106.26% and 104.98%).

(3) Based on (1) and (2) above ECOR probably makes about 10% of Indian Railways profit.

Why does not ECOR have the track length commensurate with the earnings it makes?

Why are no serious efforts being made to correct this; especially with many planned lines being given only minimal annual budgets which in many cases are less than the annual inflation.

In terms of rail density: the average rail density (2004-05) for India is 19.13; the rail density is highest in Delhi (138.2) followed by West Bengal (43.4), Punjab (41.6), Haryana (36.1), Bihar (35.9), Uttar Pradesh (35.8), etc. while Chhatisgarh (8.6) and Orissa (14.6) are among the states with low rail densities.

(6) The data from (1-3) and (5) show that while Indian Railways is making a lot of revenue and profit from ECOR (big part of which is in Orissa) and also SER (part of which is in Orissa), both ECOR and Orissa have been grossly neglected. This is true about the past; what about the future?

Mr V. N. Mathur, Member (Traffic) of the Railway Board is reported to have said:

“We’ve submitted to the Planning Commission a Rs 251,000-crore proposal for implementation by the end of the Eleventh Plan. We’ve indicated mobilisation of Rs 90,000 crore from within and 29 per cent of the projected estimate by way of market borrowing. For the balance, we may have to approach the government for support. But then nothing has yet been finalised.”

 (8) Many expensive and highflying plans by Indian Railways for the 11^th plan, but most bypass Orissa and ECOR.

(8A) Freight Corridor: Various news reports suggest that the 11^th plan (next 5-7 years) will take up the western and eastern corridors.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9030.html

Western Corridor: 1,483-km Delhi-Mumbai route

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/17/stories/2006091708640400.htm reports that the “Chennai-Kolkata and Chennai-Mumbai corridors will be included in the second phase of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.” 

(8B) High Speed Corridors:

“Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna — were announced in the current rail budget.”

(8C) Metro Rails and rapid transit systems: From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_India#Metro   and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Metro

The following are the existing or under construction/expansion metro rail projects.

• Delhi Metro
• Hyderabad Metro
• Kolkata Metro
• Kolkata Suburban Railway
• Lucknow MEMU 
• Chennai Metro
• Mumbai Suburban Railway
• Bangalore Metro
• Mumbai Metro •
• Thane Metro
• In planning:
  • Ahmedabad Metro
  • Kochi Metro
  • Goa
  • Pune

(9) In essence revenue and profit generated in ECOR is being ploughed into other parts of India, which by itself is not wrong as Orissa is a part of India, but lets analyze who are the losers: the adivasi and backward areas of Orissa (and hence of India) who are backward partly because lack of proper connectivity, and this neglect continues to keep them backward and prevents them from catching up.

No, here are the data and following it is what planning commission teams have themselves said.

(10) The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:
Malkangiri 58.36% (+19.96% SC), Rayagada 56.04% (+14.28% SC), Nabarangpur 55.27% (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95% (+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88% (+8.77% SC).  Tirbal percentage of Mayurbhanj is 57.87% and Sundergarh is 50.74%.

(11) The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

(12) Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

(13) From http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article174.html

Table 1 provides State level data on poverty ratios during 2004-05. The lowest poverty ratio was 5.4 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir and highest poverty ratio was for Orissa (46.4 per cent). States with poverty ratio of less than 15 per cent were Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. As against them, States with poverty ratio above 30 per cent were Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Orissa.