Following is from a report in Business standard:

The Orissa government today cleared projects worth Rs 1,27, 727 crore in steel, aluminium, power, downstream and ore beneficiation sectors.

The list includes 3 projects in the steel sector, 2 projects in the aluminium sector, 6 projects in the power sector, one downstream unit, and two beneficiation and pelletisation units.

… enhancement of the steel capacity of Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) from 1.6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to 3.2 mtpa at Kalinganagr Industrial Complex at an investment of Rs 16,266 crore and enhancement of capacity of Visa Steel in the same location from 0.35 mtpa to 1.5 mtpa at an investment of Rs 4995 crore were approved by HLCA.

The public sector aluminum major Nalco’s proposal to set up a 0.5 mtpa alumina smelter and 1260 mw power plant in two phases (840Mw + 420 Mw) at an investment of Rs 16,345.89 crore was also approved. Though the company preferred to set up the project at Brajarajnagar, the location might change. The company is seeking 275.30 hectares of land for the smelter and 575.7 hectares for the power plant.

Similarly, the proposal of the Navayuga Steels for setting up a 12 mtpa port based steel complex at Astaranga in Puri district at an investment of Rs 34,000 crore was cleared by the HLCA. The project will come up in 4 phases and the government will not commit any raw material linkage to it.

Though the company requires 4000 acres of land, the government will assess the land requirement as per the benchmarking report after the company submits the detailed project report (DPR), the minister added.

The public sector National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was given the green signal to set up a 3200 Mw coal based mega power plant at an investment of Rs19,840 crore near the village Gajamara in Dhenkanal district. It requires about 3000 acres of land for the project and will source water from Mahanadi.

However, Jindal Stainless’ proposal to set up 1000 Mw Independent Power Producer (IPP) at an investment of Rs 4090 crore in the same location did not find favour with HLCA with the committee asking the company to change the site of the project.

Other projects which received the nod of HLCA are Rs 6800 crore investment proposal of RSB Metal-tech for setting up 1.4 mtpa alumina refinery, 0.35 mtpa aluminium smelter and 900 Mw CPP at an investment of Rs 6800 crore, Kalinga Energy’s 1000Mw thermal power project at an investment of Rs 4261 crore at Babuchakuli, Arati Steel’s 500Mw thermal power project at Ghantikhal in Cuttack district, Rs 4994 crore investment proposal of Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Limited for setting up of 1200Mw thermal power plant at Siaria in Dhenkanal district.

Besides, Hyderabad based Lanco Solar’s 250 Mw fully integrated plant to manufacture crystalline silicon solar cells at an investment of Rs 2800 crore in Dhenkanal district, Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL)’s downstream and ancillary complex in Sambalpur district at an investment of Rs 1953.87 crore, JSW Steel’s proposal to set up 7 mtpa iron ore beneficiation plant and 5 mtpa pelletisation plant at Kamalang in Sundergarh district at an investment of Rs 1450 crore were through in today’s meeting.

Besides, the proposal of Welspun Orissa Steel to set up a 4.5 mtpa beneficiation plant at Nayagarh in Keonjhar district and 4.4 mtpa pellet plant at Dhamra in Bhadrakh district with an envisaged investment of Rs 1963 crore, the proposal of Astaranga Power Company to set up a 2460 Mw power plant at Astaranga at an estimated cost of Rs 11,200 crore were approved by the HLCA.

However, the decision on the 700 mw (Rs 1007crore) power plant proposal of Ind Bharat Energy, 1320 mw (Rs 5604 crore) power plant proposal of Sahara India Power Corporation and the 1100 Mw (Rs 4810 crore ) power plant proposal of Visaka Thermal were deferred.

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.

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

Following is  from a report in New Indian Express.

The State Government will lease out unused land of Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) at Cuttack, Baripada and here to the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for commercial purpose.

The OSRTC has prime land at Master Canteen, Pala Mandap in Cuttack and Baripada town. The corporation will lease out the Master Canteen land to RIL for 33 years for Rs 20 crore. Reliance has proposed to open retail outlets and has agreed to pay a monthly rental of Rs 15 lakh.

The company has reportedly deposited Rs 6 crore with the Government for the OSRTC land at Baripada town. However, OSRTC will collect monthly rent from RIL for all the leased out plots. Rent will be revised every five years.

The proceeds from leased out land will be invested for procurement of more buses and modernisation of the Government bus stands.

In the first phase, five bus stands at Angul, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur will be modernised under the public-private partnership.

While the bus stands of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Sambalpur will be renovated, two new bus stands will be developed at Angul and Dhenkanal.

The public utility has 230 on road buses and plans are afoot to add another 50 to its fleet. The corporation has submitted a proposal to the Government for pay revision of the employees, official sources said.

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.

The Orissa government has already involved itself in preparing the master plan for greater Bhubaneswar area. Now there is news regarding its intention to make master plans for 8 more areas. These areas are: Puri-Konark, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Kalinganagar, Paradeep, Jharsuguda, and Talcher-Angul. The govt. is missing a few other areas which it should take up soon. Those are: Baripada, Balasore, Dahamara, Rayagada-Therubali and Koraput-Jeypore. Following are excerpts from a report in Statesman on Orissa govt.’s recent thoughts on this.

In a bid to give major facelift to the upcoming urban areas of the state and for their integrated development, the government will prepare a master plan, within one and half years. The localities include Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Puri-Konark, Talcher-Angul, Paradip, Kalinga Nagar and Jharsuguda. … Mr Patnaik underscored the need of adequately trained personnel to successfully handle the technical problems of under-ground sewerage and solid waste management,…. He also stressed on better sanitation, drinking water, housing and slum development. It may be mentioned here that while Rs 950 crore from the funds of JBIC has been sanctioned for sewerage of Cuttack; the capital city has been allotted Rs 499 crore for the same under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. Rs 88 crore has been sanctioned for drinking water in Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur. Rs 3.65 crore has also been allotted for slum development in Bhubaneswar.

Telegraph also writes about this.

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 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) …

The package described below are:

• Photo IDS for weavers within the next two years.
• Annual training to improve productivity and skill for 2000 weavers.
•  Apparel design and training centers in Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkea and Baripada.
• Development of a fund for the welfare of weavers.
• A raw material bank for handloom materials.
• Integrated project in handloom in Nuapatana.
• Building of 1000 worksheds.
• A handloom museum in Bhubaneswar.

Following is Sambada’s report on this.

• Burla and Berhampur medical schools seats increased to 150 each (0)
• Fee structure for engineering, MCA, MBA, BDS and Medical announced (2)
• Seat increase in plus 2 science and commerce in many government colleges (0)
• The story of Udaipur library and the man behind it: help needed (0)
• From the AICTE pages: List of approved Pharmacy institutions in Orissa - 2007-08 (July 12 2007) (0)
• From the AICTE pages: List of approved MCA institutions in Orissa - 2007-08 (July 12 2007) (0)
• From the AICTE pages: List of approved MBA institutions in Orissa - 2007-08 (July 12 2007) (0)
• About: Orissa engineering colleges in the AICTE list and their number of seats (July 12 2007) (0)
• Orissa engineering colleges in the AICTE list and their number of seats (July 12 2007) (2)
• More pictures and plan diagrams of proposed Vedanta University (0)
• Management educational opportunities in Rourkela to increase in quality and quantity (0)
• Chandipur PXE gets a national research award (0)
• IIPM School of managemnt, Rourkela: promoted by ICICI and L & T (0)
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ad with statistics (by the central government) (0)
• Lalit Patnaik’s message on Agamee odisha meeting about KBK University (0)
• Orissa JEE counselling time table (1)
• Two articles and a slide show on Vedanta University in the Chronicles of Higher Education (1)
• Existing Central Universities in India: speculations on where the next ones will be and should be (0)
• Education in the 11th plan: higher education working group recommends medical schools in each central university in the north eastern region (0)
• KIIT plans an autism center at KIMS (1)
• Opportunities in retail management and logistics (0)
• Planning Commission: Report of the Oversight Committee to Monitor Implementation of Reservation in Higher Educational Institutions. (0)
• Naveen requests setting up of a jems and jewellery training institute in Ganjam (2)
• Special school for child laborers (0)
• Cultural dimension of education (1)
• Sarva Siksha Abhiyan: EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) and its follow-up (0)
• Distance Education programs offered by Berhampur University (0)
• SCB got back the 43 seats it had recently lost (0)
• Two central universities per state (0)
• Seven new IIMs, higher salary for professors etc. (0)
• More details on the new and exisiting central universities (0)
• Two more engineering colleges are being established in Bhubaneswar (0)
• Standing up for the backward areas of Orissa and India (0)
• Groups interested in setting up of private universities in Orissa; land provided by Orissa to various universities (0)
• Center plans to ease MCI conditions for opening medical colleges in NRHM states (0)
• Seat reduction at SCB Medical college; CM writes to center (0)
• Orissa AIEEE site updated for 2007 (10)
• Agami Odisha plans a convention on the KBK Central University issue on July 8th (0)
• Sai International establishing a school near Infocity (1)
• Orissa JEE counseling brochure is available now (17)
• Pragativadi: Prof. Gopal Nayak recommended as IIIT Bhubaneswar director (0)
• Ravenshaw University Vice Chancellor’s presentation in Detroit, MI, USA (0)
• BPUT advertises for M.Tech and M.Pharm (6)
• Jobs at Vedanta for B.Sc graduates (1)
• New Indian Express reports on AIIMS branch in Bhubaneswar (1)
• Analyzing the 2004 Orissa JEE student preferences (14)
• Orissa Engineering Colleges in Dataquest Ranking (1)
• Samaja ad: Sponsored courses at Utkal University (0)
• NISER advtertises for teaching positions (3)
• Tathya.in: PM promises IIT for Orissa (Is this for real? ) (2)
• Pioneer and Statesman: Bhubaneswar in the shortlist for one of the 4 new NIDs in the 11th plan (2)

The PIB release states that the Board of Approval of SEZ recommended grant of formal approval of an SEZ with developer Hindalco Industries Limited in Sambalpur for aluminum and aluminum products. The SEZ will come up in an area of 115.94 hectares.

Following is a roundup on HRD related postings at orissawatch.org.

• Foundation For Excellence (FFE) gave 264 scholarships to students from Orissa
• Orissa engineering colleges in Outlook India ranking
• NISER deadline for submitting application form is extended till June 15 2007
• Chennai B-school in Bhubaneswar and Plan for Insurance University in BBSR
• Specialized government management institutions of Orissa
• Branch changes allowed after first year at NIT Rourkela
• Status of private Medical Colleges in the State
• M.Tech and M.Arch programs in Orissa
• KIIT has approval for 100 Medical (MBBS) and 100 Dentistry (BDS) seats.
• Institutions with Nontraditional programs - a dated list
• Biju Patnaik Film and TV institute advertises for admission into its programs
• Apparently Orissa students are doing well in medical entrance exams
• Tathya: Please no politics over IIT
• Pursuing M. Ed in Orissa
• Ranking of Engineering Colleges in Orissa based on student preferences
• Nursing Schools catch on in Orissa
• TCS recruits 1100 students from Orissa engineering colleges

Infrastructure of Sambalpur-Burla-Baragarh-Chipilima cluster, Orissa

Educational and research infrastructure of Orissa

City Guides in the net.

• Hello Sambalpur

Universities in Sambalpur area.

• Sambalpur University, Burla, Sambalpur
• College of Agriculture, OUAT, Chiplima, Sambalpur B.Sc.(Ag.)

Research institutes in Sambalpur area.

Medical/Dental Colleges in Sambalpur area.

• VSS Medical college, Burla, Sambalpur
• Various other medical and medical technology instituitions

Management Institutes (granting MBA or equivalent) in Sambalpur area

• Department of Business Administration, Sambalpur University, University Campus, Jyothi Vihar Building, Burla - 768 019 Dist: Sambalpur
• Gangadhar Meher College (Autonomous) Sambalpur-04, Sambalpur, Orissa

Engineering Colleges in Sambalpur area

• University College Of Engg. Burla, P.O. Engg. College, Sambalpur - 768 018.
• Padmashree Kurtartha Acharya College Of Engg At/Po Chakarkend-768028 Dist Bargarh Orissa

MCA granting institutions in Sambalpur area

• Gangadhar Meher College, Sambalpur - 7658 004 Dist: Sambalpur
• University College of Engineering, Burla - 768 018 Dist: Sambalpur

Pharmacy schools in Sambalpur area

• Gayatri College Of Pharmacy Gayatri Vihar, Jamadarpali,,Sambalpur - 768 101.

Autonomous Colleges with Masters programs in Sambalpur area

• Gangadhar Meher College Sambalpur, Dist. Sambalpur - 768 004
• University College of Engg. Burla (Sambalpur), Orissa - 768 018

Other institutions with non traditional (i.e., beyond Science/liberal Arts/Commerce/Engg/Medical/MBA etc.) programs

• Govt. College Physical Education, Kuksari, Sambalpur
• Jagannath Sanskrit college, Bijayapalli, Baragarh
• Lajpat Rai Law College, SAMBALPUR
• Orissa Medical College of Homeopathy and Res., SAMBALPUR
• Sri Nrusinghanath Ayruved College, Research Institute, PAIKMAL. Bargarh

Fun/Culture/Tourism in and around Sambalpur area

• Orissa tourism destinations: Sambalpur area
• Odissi.com — Sambalpur area
• Sambalpur area Travel Guide.

Industries and Industrial infrastructure in and Around Sambalpur area

• Ref: [1].

Getting to/from Sambalpur area

• Sambalpur is a division HQ in the East Coast Railway of Indian Railways.
  • Timings of trains to/from/through Sambalpur
  • Indian Railways Schedule
• Road network: Sambalpur is on NH 6 running between Kolkata and Mumbai:
• Road network: Orissa Roads; India’s NH network.