Following is an excerpt from a report in the Statesman.

The state government today inked an MoU with RSB Metaltech for setting up of an integrated light metal aluminum complex. The papers were signed by state industries and mines secretary Dr Ashok Dalwai and RSB Metaltech MD Mr SK Behera …

In the first phase, the proposed company, with an investment of around Rs 6,800 crore, will produce about 7 lakh tonnes per of alumina. In the second phase, nearly 1.75 lakh tonnes of aluminium is expected to be produced from the plant. The produced aluminium will be used for production of finer parts in motor vehicles, aerospace, railway and construction industry.

While the mining and refinery units of the project will come up a Rayagada, the smelter unit and power plant are proposed to be set up at Kamakshyanagar in Dhenkanal.

Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik said that the project will generate about 11,000 direct and the equal number of indirect jobs. "This project, along with its alumina refinery at Rayagada and Gopalpur port will form an industrial corridor in southern Orissa," Mr Patnaik said adding that the corridor will help fast development, alleviation of poverty and improvement of life of the local people in that region. He suggested that provisions should be made to provide technical education to local youths. "The rehabilitation, resettlement and environment aspect should be taken proper care of," he pointed out.

The Union minister has been requited to expedite and complete the "Therubali-Gunupur railway project to enhance the connectivity in that region," he informed.

I wonder about the progress of the earlier plan of establishing an auto component manufacturing plant near Cuttack by RSB Transmission. (See  http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/421.)

I believe that for Orissa to develop several urban centers and clusters need to be developed. So far many are developing. The ones marked with red are either developed or are in the path of development. The one in purple (Keonjhar) has a good chance of development. The three green ones in the big green zone, denoting Bhwanipatna, Balangir and Phulbani are in need of development. The following table lists what these various urban areas and clusters have or are going to have and what they don’t have and the govt. should make efforts to fulfill those lacunae.

Urban- clusters	Univs	Medical Colleges	Rail con.	Empl. venues	Needs	Notes
Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Khurda (1.6 million)	Many	Many	Good	Many	International airport
Rourkela	NIT, BPUT	No	Good	Many	Airport,  Talcher- Bimlagarh , Comp. University
Berhampur- Gopalpur- Chhatrapur	BU	MKCG	Good	Many	Upgrade MKCG to AIIMS
Sambalpur – Burla – Hirakud	SU	VSS	Good	Many	Make UCE a unitary university
Puri- Vedanta University	SJU, Vedanta University planned	Vedanta University Medical College is planned	Good	Many
Paradeep- Kujanga	None	None	Good	Port, POSCO, PCPIR	University, Medical College
Dhamara- Chandabali	None	None	In constr	Port (in constr), Shipyard	University, Medical College
Vyasanagar- Kalinganagar	None	None	Good	Many	University, Medical College
Jharsuguda- Belpahar – Brajarajnagar	None	None	Good	Many	University, Medical College, Airport
Angul- Talcher – Nalconagar	None	MCL plans a medical college	Good	Many	University
Balasore- Chandipur	FMU	None	Good	some	Medical College, Develop industry
Koraput- Sunabeda- Jeypore – Damanjodi	Central University	None	Good	Many	Medical College
Rayagada- Therubali	None	None	Good	Many	University, Medical College
Baripada- Similipal	NOU	None	So-so	some	Medical College, Chakulia- Buramara rail connectivity
Keonjhar	None	None	Good	expected	University, Medical College, Upgrade OSME	Hope Arcelor Mittal’s plan works out
Bhawanipatna – Kesinga – Junagarh – Vedanta Nagar – Lanjigarh Rd	None	None	In the works	expected	University, Medical College	Hope Vedanta establishes a good township here
Balangir	None	None	so-so	very little	University, Medical College, Needs more industries	Govt. need to FOCUS.
Phulbani	None	None	NONE	very little	University, Medical College, Lanjigarh Rd – Phulbani – Angul line needed asap, more industries	Govt. need to FOCUS.
Bhadrakh	None	None	Good	some	In between Kalinganagar & Balasore	Train to branch off to Dhamara here
Joda – Badbil	None	None	Ok	mines	University, Medical College,	Trains to BBSR needed
Parlakhemundi	None	None	In Constr	very little	University, Medical College,	JITM

As noted above, all these places should have a university, a medical college, good rail connectivity and several job centers.

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 a bit of information on Sky Airways:

• A report in Telegraph mentions the following:

… Sky Airways (backed by the M.L. Agarwal group, with business interests in Orissa�s mining and steel sectors) …

(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.

Table 1: Number and Percentage of Population Below Poverty Line (2004-05) based on URP Consumption

Rural

Urban

Combined

State	% of Persons	No. of persons (in lakhs)	% of Persons	No. of Persons (in lakhs)	% of persons	No. of persons(in lakhs)
S.No.	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
1 Jammu & Kashmir	4.6	3.7	7.9	2.2	5.4	5.9
2 Punjab	9.1	15.1	7.1	6.5	8.4	21.6
3 Himachal Pradesh	10.7	6.1	3.4	0.2	10.0	6.4
4 Goa	5.4	0.4	21.3	1.6	13.8	2.0
5 Haryana	13.6	21.5	15.1	10.6	14.0	32.1
6 Delhi	6.9	0.6	15.2	22.3	14.7	22.9
7 Kerala	13.2	32.4	20.2	17.2	15.0	49.6
8 Andhra Pradesh	11.2	64.7	28.0	61.4	15.8	126.1
9 Gujarat	19.1	63.5	13.0	27.2	16.8	90.7
10 Assam	22.3	54.5	3.3	1.3	19.7	55.8
11 Rajasthan	18.7	87.4	32.9	47.5	22.1	134.9
12 Tamil Nadu	22.8	76.5	22.2	69.1	22.5	145.6
13 West Bengal	28.6	173.2	14.8	35.1	24.7	208.3
14 Karnataka	20.8	75.0	32.6	63.8	25.0	138.9
15 All-India	28.3	2209.2	25.7	808.0	27.5	3017.2
16 Maharashtra	29.6	171.1	32.2	146.3	30.7	317.4
17 Uttar Pradesh	33.4	473.0	30.6	117.0	32.8	590.0
18 Madhya Pradesh	36.9	175.7	42.1	74.0	38.3	249.7
19 Uttarakhand	40.8	27.1	36.5	8.9	39.6	36.0
20 Jharkhand	46.3	103.2	20.2	13.2	40.3	116.4
21 Chattisgarh	40.8	71.5	41.2	19.5	40.9	91.0
22 Bihar	42.1	336.7	34.6	32.4	41.4	369.2
23 Orissa	46.8	151.8	44.3	26.7	46.4	178.5

Note: States have been arranged in the ascending order on the basis of combined poverty ratio in 2004-05. Poverty line: Rs 356.0 in rural areas and Rs 538.6 in urban areas (Per capita monthly expenditure).

Source: Planning Commission, Press Release, March 2007.

Five States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa accounted for 166 million poor (about 55 per cent of the total poor estimated at 302 million). This shows the high concentration of poor in these five States.

(14) Planning Commission: The Planning Commission in its report comparing the development status of economic infrastructure of Orissa, especially the KBK region, vis-à-vis the country says:

"Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

 (15) What we are asking with respect to KBK and adivasi areas of Orissa?

We are asking the current PM and the current planning commission to pay attention to what the planning commission report says in (15) and the data in (11)-(14).

In particular, we would like the following lines to be completed during the 11^th plan.

1)     Khurda – Balangir (This brings Railways to districts of Boudha, Sonepur and Nayagarh and bring Balangir – a part of KBK- closer to the state capital. This line of 290 km, initially budgeted at 700 crores, has all the necessary studies done, and its survey was complete before May 2004. It should be targeted to be completed within the next 2-3 years.)

2)     Gunupur-Theruvali (The Orissa govt. is ready to use PPP for this. This should also be done in 2-3 years together with the broad gauge conversion of Naupada-Gunupur line)

Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd in Andhra Pradesh. (The first phase of this Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh is 56 km with an estimated cost of 120 crores. 15% of it was completed before May 2004. This should be completed immediately within 1-2 years. This line lies completely within the KBK districts and when finished will bring Railways to the districts of Nabarangpur and Malkangiri. Moreover, the Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd part could go through a bit of Chhatisgrah. This line will create a shorter and alternative Ranchi-Hyderabad route and bring connectivity to an area that is currently havited by many extremist groups. Not much has been done beyond Junagarh, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11^th plan.)

Talcher – Bimlagarh (This is 154 km long and was estimated at Rs 727 crore. This will bring the tribal district of Sundergarh much closer to Orissa, connect a dangling line, and will bring passenger rail to big parts of Sundergarh. This should be completed in 3-4 years.)

(These lines connect dangling lines and will bring passenger rail to big parts of the tribal district of Mayurbhanj. Not much has been done, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11^th plan.)

Badampahar-Keonjhar (This line also  connecst dangling lines and will bring passenger rail to big parts of the tribal district of Mayurbhanj. Not much has been done, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11^th plan.)

1. Parlakhemundi, the district headquarter of Gajapati (part of KBK+) will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 305 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
2. Sonepur, the district HQ of Sonepur district will be on connected by rail and will be 259 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
3. Boudh, the district HQ of Boudha district will be connected by Rail and will be 217 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
4. Nayagarha, the district HQ of Nayagarha district will be connected by Rail and will be 84 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
5. Bhawanipatna, the district HQ of Kalahandi district (part of KBK) will be connected by Rail and will be 450 kms from Bhubaneswar via Balangir and 504 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital) via Gunupur.
6. Malkangiri, the district HQ of Malkangiri district (part of KBK) will  be connected by Rail.
7. Nabrangpur, the district HQ of Nabrangpur district (part of KBK) will be connected by Rail.
8. Balangir, the district HQ of Balangir district will now be 309 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 397 kms.
9. Nawapara Rd, near the district HQ of Nawapara district will now be 459 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 547 kms.
10. Rayagada, the district HQ of Rayagada district will now be 419 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 502 kms.
11. Koraput, the district HQ of Koraput district will now be 573 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 676 kms.
12. Titlagarh, a major junction will now be 373 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 461 kms.
13. There will be an alternate shorter path from Ranchi to Hyderabad via Titlagarh-Bhawanipatna-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd

(17) Is the Indian railway under the UPA government neglecting Orissa than the previous government?

(18) In the 2004 railway budget given at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869 (items 35,37) the then Railway Minister Nitish Kumar had proposed the Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana which aimed to complete lines like Khurda-Balangir within the next 5 years. This has been completely sidelined by the UPA government. This is what he said.

(18 A) Following is the exact wording, in items 35 and 37 of the 2004 Railway budget.

    * 35. Railways have a large shelf of over 230 projects worth about Rs. 43,000 cr, for construction of New Lines, Gauge Conversion, Doubling, Electrification and Metropolitan Transport Projects. Even with the enhanced budgetary support, non-budgetary initiatives under National Rail Vikas Yojana and other cost sharing mechanisms apart from Defence funding of some projects of strategic importance, there will still be projects valuing Rs. 20,000 cr which would remain unfinished even after the next five years. A large number of these have been sanctioned on socio economic considerations with the intention of connecting remote and backward areas with the rail network. However their progress is very slow on account of inadequate funding, which causes dissatisfaction. Connecting these areas with the rail network will facilitate the economic and social development of these areas and will provide major employment opportunities during construction and thereafter. Keeping these factors in mind, it has been decided to speed up the execution and completion of these projects also in the next five years. I am happy to inform the House that this would be done through an ambitious ‘Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana’, with an additional outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore.
    *

    * 37. This decision to accelerate the completion of all projects in five years is expected, on a broad estimate, to provide yearly employment to about 3 lakh persons during the construction period. Once opened for traffic, these lines would also require about 18000 persons per year for normal maintenance and operations, on incremental basis. Apart from this, it is expected that there will be scope for indirect employment of nearly 55000 persons per year. The ‘Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana’ will go a long way in changing the economic and social scenario of the remote and backward regions of the country and bringing the people of these areas into the mainstream. Further, the demand for steel, cement, rolling stock, fittings, components, plant and machinery will also be generated, boosting the economic growth of the entire country.

(18 B) World Bank:

http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/240060/India%20%20financing%20infrastructure%20-%20addressing%20constraints%20and%20challenges.pdf
June 2006 report (page 70 above Table A8)

The second project envisaged by the railways was announced in the interim Budget of 2004- 05 and is called Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana (RARSY). This involves executing and completing hitherto sanctioned projects related to connecting remote and backward areas with the rail network till 2010. The total investments in these projects is valued at Rs.200 billion. Presumably this is to be entirely funded by budget
support.

(18 C)   http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Railways/16th-Report.pdf
Railway Standing Committee Report 2005-06

Page 19:

To bridge this gap and considering the slow progress, projects especially in backward, underdeveloped and remote areas due to constraint of resources, Government had announced "Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana" (RARSY) in the Interim Budget 2004-05 which envisages investment of about Rs.20,000 crore in a period of 5 years on ongoing projects taken up on socio-economic considerations. However, the funds for the Yojana are yet to be tied up. Government in has attached priority to  infrastructure development. Keeping this commitment in view, a proposal has  been mooted for creation of Remote Area Rail Infrastructure Fund for financing the RARSY. If the Government approves the funding of this Yojana, all the ongoing projects will get completed in five years. The yojana is being processed in consultation with the Ministry of Finance for approval of the Government duly identifying the funding sources. A note in this regard is under process in the Ministry for consideration of Government.

3.10 Giving the details of the new initiatives to address the foregoing funds constraints, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-
"Over the last few years, certain initiatives have been taken to see how we will fund over projects so that the pace of adding new lines, gauge conversion and doubling speeds up. We have introduced funding through defence for strategic lines. We have got some of the projects declared as the national projects where the funding is given directly by the Government. We have also initiated private participation in some cases, we have also
launched the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited which is generating funds through various sources including the market borrowing. Our need was to generate about Rs.47,000 crore to take care of the projects on the shelf. Out of this, we found that we can generate about Rs.12,500 crore or so out of the normal Budgetary support as per the past trends. We would be generating about Rs.18,000 crore due to the new initiatives that have been taken in the past few years. It still leaves us a gap of about Rs.17,000 crore to take care of
the projects which are by and large non-remunerative projects but they are on the shelf. These are the projects which are connecting distant areas, backward areas. They were sanctioned on socio-economic considerations and so many other considerations. Even for the sum of Rs.17,000 crore, which is our requirement, in the year 2004, in the Interim Budget, a scheme of Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana was introduced. We are yet to finsalise the funding pattern under this scheme. The effort is to involve the State Government’s participation into this scheme as also through other means.
We are yet to give it a final shape."

3.11 In response to the concern of the Committee as to why the completion targets of the projects are not being fixed, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-

"most of these projects will not be completed in the next few years. In fact, the projects where target has not been given is because normally we give targets for projects which are going to be over in the next two to three years.  But where it is going to be a distant period and where we do not know as to how much funds would be allocated for these projects, we do not give targets for those projects. So, wherever targets are given these are the projects which will take more than two to three years to get completed depending on how much funds are given. On our part, we have tried to revive the CapitalFund to see that we can put in more money.

Page 22: Talks about National Projects

3.12 In the absence of adequate internal generation of revenues by the Railways,
the following projects has been declared by the Government as the national Projects in the National interest. The funding for these projects are ensured by the Central Exchequer in the form of additional Budgetary Support to the Railways.

(18 D) Summing up this point:

In summary, based on earlier planning commission report as excerpted in (14) the 2004 Rail budget had the scheme RARSY which would have completed KBK connectivity lines like Khurda-Blangir. But the UPA government has buried that plan and has talked about burdening the state government for these lines, which since they can not afford, basically means abandoning these lines. This approach needs to be reversed and while India and Indian Railway marches ahead it must not forget the backward and adivasi areas of India and Orissa; especially when it makes money from transporting freight (minerals) from these areas.

(19.5) While the above are finished during the 11^th plan, we will patiently wait for the 12^th plan

• for the 2^nd phase of freight corridor involving Howrah-Chennai that will pass through Orissa;
• for high speed rail between Howrah-Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam-Chennai;
• for a metro rail for greater Bhubaneswar; and
• additional lines such as Jaleshwar-Digha, Berhampur-Phulbani, Bargarh-Nawapara Road and Talcher-Berhampur.

 

Following is Sambada’s report on this.

Business standard reports that Syndicate Bank and Indian Overseas Bank plan several social schemes involving training villagers. Following are some excerpts from that report.

Syndicate bank said it would take up extension activities in all its rural branches for educating and training villagers in different aspects of agriculture, animal husbandry, plantation and fish rearing.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) said it would organise at least three training camps for women in southern Orissa during 2007-08.

“We have decided to organise at least three training camps on tailoring, handicraft and beauty therapy for rural women in southern Orissa towns at Rayagada, Jeypore and Bhawanipatna” …

At Jeypore in Koraput district, the bank has decided to impart training to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women.

In Rayagada, training to be given to the weaker section people.

Similarly in Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters of Kalahandi district, women in general categories will get training.

In each camp, scheduled to start in July or August, at least 20 women would be participated.

The respective branch managers would select the women to get training, he said …

After getting training for a fortnight, they would receive financial assistance from the bank for establishment of units in various fields.

“Our corporate office has agreed for three training camps initially and if more number of women come forward for skill and entrepreneurship development, more number of camps will be organised” …

Syndicate Bank would conduct 58 extension activities during 2007-08.

The bank’s Berhampur branch has recently held a farmers’ meeting on jatropha plantation at Narendrapur in Ganjam district in collaboration with the Orissa Nature Care & Council (ONCC), an organisation imparting training on jatropha cultivation for bio-diesel.

ONCC provided technical know-how and inputs for jatropha planting while the bank was financing farmers, …

Syndicate Bank offered Rs 10,000 to each of the 55 farmers in the village for taking up of jatropha plantation, …

Jatropha cultivation was done in about 105 acres in the village.

Syndicate bank would donate Rs 10,000 each for renovation and cleaning of ponds in 10 villages during the current year.

Today’s Business Standard reports that all future MOUs signed by the Orissa government will have more conditions related to value addition, employment infrastructure and ancillary development. Following are some excerpts from that article.

The Orissa government has decided to incorporate new conditions in all MoUs to be signed henceforth with investors proposing to set up projects in the state, to compel them deliver more on value addition, employment, infrastructure and ancillary development front.

At a meeting today, L&T officials made a presentation regarding plans on investment in Orissa and the benefits to flow to the state. According to sources, the company has agreed to upgrade the existing plant of L&T plant located at Kanspal near Rourkela in Sundergarh districts where high end engineering products will be manufactured.
Similarly, it has been asked to set up a technical institution closer to the refinery site and develop a greenfield plant. The company will also be involved in the infrastructure development.

For this, the company has been asked to participate in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Therubali-Gunupur Rail Link. Further, in order to promote employment in the state the company will be asked to develop downstream industries, he added. It may be noted, the details of the MOU conditions will be worked out within next 2-3
days before formal signing of the MOU.
…
This changed attitude of the government to extract certain commitments from the industry in MoUs to safeguard the state’s interest is likely to be reflected in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the L&T-Dubal project, a joint venture between L & T of India and Dubal Aluminium of Dubai.

This is a good first step; especially the part regarding establishment of “technical institute.” However, it is not clear what kind of technical institute is referred to: an ITI, a polytechnic, or a degree engineering college. The government should insist on all three. As a reference point Jharkhand has convinced Central Coalfields to set up an engineering college in Jharkhand, and Bokaro Steel Plant to set up an engineering college and a medical college in Jharkhand.

Orissa must follow Jharkhand’s example. It should not only require a medical college and an engineering institution (with degree college, polytechnic and many ITIs as part of it) from the new companies but also require it from existing companies; both public and private ones. The existing companies which do not agree to this should be blacklisted and not given any preferred treatment for various things such as permissions, renewals, expansions etc. To discourage them from delaying, an escalation formula should be worked out so that the more the company delays the more it has to put in later.

The completion of the (a) Kurdha Rd – Balangir new line, (b) Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh new line, (c) broad gauge conversion of Naupada Rd and Gunupur and (d) the completion of the Gunupur-Theruvali line will have the following benefits. [Among these, with the current funding level (b) and (c) will be completed in a couple of years. What is needed is a big push to complete (a) and (d) in the next 3-4 years.]

1. Parlakhemundi, the district headquarter of Gajapati will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 305 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [c]
2. Sonepur, the district HQ of Sonepur district will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 259 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [a]
3. Boudh, the district HQ of Boudha district will be on Broad gauge and will be 217 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).[a]
4. Nayagarha, the district HQ of Nayagarha district will be on Broad gauge and will be 84 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [a]
5. Bhawanipatna, the district HQ of Kalahandi district will be on Broad gauge and will be 450 kms from Bhubaneswar via Balangir [a,b] and 504 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital) via Gunupur. [b,c,d]
6. Balangir, the district HQ of Balangir district will now be 309 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 397 kms. [a]
7. Nawapara Rd, near the district HQ of Nawapara district will now be 459 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 547 kms. [a]
8. Rayagada, the district HQ of Rayagada district will now be 419 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 502 kms. [c,d]
9. Koraput, the district HQ of Koraput district will now be 573 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 676 kms. [c,d]
10. Titlagarh, a major junction will now be 373 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 461 kms. [a]

Thus these four lines will connect 5 new district HQs to the broad gauge railways and will significantly reduce the distance between 4 other district HQs and the state capital. That is 8 district HQs would be within half-a-day intercity distance away from the state capital and the 9th one (Koraput) will be within a overnight ride from the state capital. Thus intercity trains between (i) Bhuabneswar and Nawapara Rd (ii) Bhubaneswar and Bhawanipatna and (iii) Bhubaneswar and Rayagada will completely change the psychology of people in districts such as Kalahandi, Rayagada and Nawapara and feel them more connected with the rest of the state. (Currently 2893 leaves Bhubaneswar at 5:45 AM and reaches Balangir at 1:20 PM. Within the same time, with the shortened route it can easily go up to Titlagarh junction and with a little speed up this train will be able to go up to Bhawanipatna or Nawapara Rd.) Similarly a shorter overnight train between Jeypore and Bhubaneswar will make people in Koraput district feel much closer to the rest of the state. (Currently 8448 leaves Koraput at 6:25 PM and reaches Bhubaneswar at 8:30 AM next morning. With a shorter route a train can leave Koraput at 8:30 PM and make it to Bhubaneswar by 8:30 AM next morning.)

Two further extensions of Junagarh-Nawarangpur and Jeypore-Malkangiri will bring two other KBK district HQs to be connected to the broad gauge railways.

Following explains the calculations [orissalinks] :

1. Parlakhemundi-Naupada Rd is 40 kms and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms.
2. Sonepur to Khurda Rd is 240 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
3. Boudha to Khurda Rd is 198 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
4. Nayagarh to Khurda Rd is 65 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
5. Bhawanipatna to Lanjiharh Rd is 30 kms, Lanjigarh Rd to Titlagarh is 47 kms, Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms, Balangir to Khurda Rd is 290 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms. Lanjigarh Rd to Theruvali is 74 kms, Theruvali to Gunupur is estimated to be 45 kms, Gunupur to Naupada rd is 90 kms, and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms.
6. Balangir to Khurda Rd is 290 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms. Balangir to Sambalpur is 118 kms, Sambalpur to Talcher Rd is 169 kms, Talcher Thermal to Barang is 94 kms and Barang to Bhubaneswar is 16 kms.
7. Nawapara Rd to Titlagarh is 86 kms and Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms.
8. Rayagada to Theruvali is 19 kms, Theruvali to Naupada Rd is estimated to be 135 kms and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms. Rayagad to Vijainagaram is 124 kms and Vijainagaram to Bhubaneswar is 378 kms.
9. Koraput to Rayagada is 174 kms.
10. Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms.