Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.

… Mr.Agarwal impressed upon the Chief Minister that his group is eager to expand the .50 million ton smelter in Jharsuguda to a 1.6 million ton per annum (MTPA). 

Naveen Patnaik, asked the Chief Secretary to look into the matter finalize the expansion program, said sources. 

Mr.Agarwal updated the Chief Minister about the status of Vedanta’s ongoing projects in the state here on 3 January..

The Alumina Project at Lanjigarh, Smelter and Power Projects at Jharsuguda and the University project at Puri is being implemented by the Vedanta group.

On Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, adoption of 400 anganwadis, providing education for 14000 children at Kalahandi are being implemented, briefed Mr.Agarwal.

Mr. Agarwal agreed to extend the coverage to 40000 children and agreed to introduce the Mid Day Meal scheme for 30000 primary and the secondary level school student in the state through Nandi and Sterlite Foundation as the Chief Minister requested him.

He also announced a 100 bedded state-of-the-art multi-speciality hospital at Jharsuguda will provide medical facility to the local people.

Chairman Vedanta group reiterated his earlier commitment to build a 1000 bedded super-specialty hospital at Puri.

It was also informed that the design and the engineering has been completed and construction is to begin soon.

In addition Mr Agarwal put forth his plans of setting up of a downstream Aluminium Park in collaboration with the government to promote as many as 600 small and medium scale industries at Jharsuguda. 

The project will generate large scale employment opportunities and additional economic activities in the region.

Currently the Vedanta Group’s investment commitments are in excess of Rs 50,000 crores, half of which has already been invested in various projects of Orissa.

Vedanta is presently generating a huge number of direct and indirect employment for approximately 25000 people, eighty percent of which belong to the state of Orissa.

After the meeting the CM, Mr Agarwal told reporters that all the ongoing projects of Vedanta would continue as per schedule in spite of the recent global recession.

He also assured that in his personal capacity he would make all possible efforts to complete the Vedanta University Project, a world class University at par with the Havard and Stanford University of U,S.A.

He has already committed personal contribution of Rs 5000 crore towards this project.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=46319.

The CCEA has approved the revision of the rates of royalty for uranium as per recommendations of the Study Group. Accordingly, royalty rates for Uranium would be levied on ad-valorem basis on the basis of compensation amount paid to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), at the rate of 2% of the compensation amount received by the UCIL, to be apportioned on state wise basis as per the details provided by the Department of Atomic Energy.

The Government has taken several initiatives to streamline exploration and mining of mineral Uranium in the country. One of the issues pertained to providing a fair compensation tot he State Governments for the mineral mined out from their territory. While the Government is working out a proposal for revision of royalty rates for all minerals, a considered decision has been taken to enhance the royalty rates of mineral Uranium immediately, keeping the fact in view that uranium is a strategic mineral and mining operations in this sector is restricted to Public Sector only. Royalty on minerals is payable to the State Governments by a holder of a mining lease in respect of any mineral removed or consumed by him from the leased area.

In terms of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the rates of royalty can not be enhanced more than once in a period of three years. The existing rates of royalty for minerals including Uranium, other than minor minerals, coal, lignite of royalty for Uranium can be enhanced any-time after 14.10.2007.

In order to review the rates of royalty and dead rent the Government constituted a Study Group under the Chairmanship of the Additional Secretary (Mines) with the representatives of the State Governments of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Ministry of Steel, Department of Atomic Energy, Indian Bureau of Mines, and the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries as members. The Study Group noted that the details on domestic production and domestic pricing of uranium are not available in public domain. Further the mining operations of uranium are exclusively done by public sector, with limited captive use. Thus for the sake of transparency, the Study Group recommended that the compensation paid by the Government to the public sector undertakings involved in mining and processing of uranium, would be used as the reference point for determining royalty payable to the State Governments.

*****

AD/SH/LV

Following is an excerpt from a report in Steelguru.

…the provision that allows the Centre to intervene in disposing of a company’s application for mineral concessions in case the State does not take a decision in the prescribed time limit is being done away with. This provision was one of the reform recommendations made by the high level committee set up under Mr Anwarul Hoda member of Planning Commission for the mining sector with the objective to woo big investments.

Officials in the Ministry of Mines said that the Indian government has not agreed to the Hoda Committee recommendation on this issue. Officials said that “Constitutionally, State Governments are the owners of all mineral resources in their region. Mineral rich States had opposed the proposal and the Centre has agreed with them.”

Chief Ministers of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in December 2007 had submitted a joint memorandum to the Prime Minister opposing the power given to the Centre in the draft National Mineral Policy. The chief ministers said that “This approach is fundamentally flawed in so far as bulk minerals like iron ore, bauxite, chromite, limestone, dolomite and manganese are concerned.”

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.)

The following article in Samaja lists the bauxite deposits in Orissa. There is a total of 1.25953 Billion ton of bauxite in Orissa in 13 different locations. They are:

1. Panchapatamali, Koraput - 16 sq km area having 310 million ton
2. Gandhamardan - 230 million ton
3. Bafilamali - 195.73 million ton
4. Kodingamali - 91.4 million ton
5. Sajamali - 86 million ton
6. Sasubohumali - 81 million ton
7. Pattangi -75.12 million ton
8. Kalarapat - 59 million ton
9. Lanjigarh - 53 million ton
10. Krutimali -  40 million ton
11. Karnapathikonda -  17.12 million ton
12. Balada - 12.4 million ton
13. Mali mountain - 9.5 million ton

See http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/dec-2007/engpdf/28-31.pdf for an older article on this.

Following are excerpts from a report in livemint.com. (The article seems to be written from the point of view of miners. Nevertheless, if mining activities can help build infrastructure in this area then it may be worth looking. As always, a big worry is the potential impact of mining activities on the environment.)

… Experts say the soil beneath the farming fields in Kandhamal is mineral-rich. The state government has received several applications for mining leases over the last 18 months—potentially leading to investment, jobs and infrastructure—but red tape has stymied progress.

“There is bauxite, graphite, iron ore, gold and coal in Kandhamal,” says G.C. Prusty, senior surveyor at the local mining and steel office in the district. “But nothing is happening. Company representatives keep coming here and ask me about the status of their application. I just tell them to wait for the state government’s approval. I am also waiting.”

… Panda speculates that now the state is so busy pursuing big mines of lucrative minerals such as coal, iron ore and chromite in the more obvious districts of Rayagada and Jajpur that it does not have the bandwidth or the will to explore smaller deposits in areas such as Kandhamal.

… But more than ever before, clearing these small leases, so that new jobs can be created in Kandhamal, has become critical, amid the simmering Kandha-Pano conflict. Security experts believe that if this conflict is left unresolved, the district with its thick jungles and disaffected people is likely to become a haven for Maoist guerillas.

“If their economic problems are left unheeded, then these people are likely to become sympathizers of the Maoists,” says A.N. Sinha, deputy commissioner of police in Cuttack, who has served three years in Gajapati, a district of Orissa that borders southern Kandhamal. Maoists are active in Gajapati.

… And if policy improves, investors say they will come to this district, despite the recent conflict. “Conflict will not keep mining companies out. I would certainly be interested in going there,” says Panda of Imfa.

…

“We generate employment. We employ locals at our mines in Jajpur and Rayagada; we employ them for dispatches, bringing in equipment. Then there is a multiplier effect. Other jobs come up with a mine,” Panda says.

To win over locals, companies also undertake social projects; Imfa reports spending 2% of its net profit (approximately Rs412 crore every year) to set up health and veterinary camps and to build hospitals and schools in Orissa.

Locals, too, say they would welcome the mining companies. Asthik Digal, a Pano who is a stone-breaker and migrates to earn daily wages of Rs200, says he would rather work in a place close to his family. “If I get a job here, why will I go so far from my wife and children? I will stay here and work in a mine,” he says.

But right now, the idea of industries, schools and hospitals in Kandhamal seems like a distant dream, says Prusty.

He may be right. Because even though there is a lot of investment coming into the state—Orissa has signed about 50 preliminary agreements worth about Rs1.98 trillion to set up steel plants—the government’s mining policy is deficient, by many accounts.

To begin with, the state has not updated its mineral map (map of all the resources in the state) in 30 years.

…

“We have no idea of what resources we have or if the ones we do have are mature enough to sustain such large-scale exploitation,” says Shantanu Mohapatra, former director of mines in Orissa. Panda agrees. “So far, we have looked only for the most obvious minerals such as iron ore and bauxite in the most obvious places. Places such as Kandhamal have not been investigated closely.”

When winds changed and mining became lucrative, companies seized the opportunity and forced the state to play catch-up.

The government’s inability to reshape its mining policy has prevented it from earning revenue and also hampered jobs from being created in Kandhamal, where both Kandhas and Panos could have benefited from the rising global demand for the minerals lying beneath their lands.

… Observers say that if the government had acted in time and channelled investment here, maybe the conflict, which is essentially an economic battle between two of India’s most deprived groups, would have been avoided.

They say a long-term economic plan is essential to stop the violence in Kandhamal. That won’t start, residents say, until the government allows them to mine the benefits of their mineral wealth.

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.

In http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1616 we discussed a report regarding auctioning of minerals. The following article in Sambada illusrtates with numbers that the best way to go would be to decide the winner of the auction based on evaluating the financial and technical bid together and determining which one offers the state the maximum revenue. (Later when time permits I will translate the article into English.)

The following excerpts from a news item from tathya.in illustrates the difference between the state’s income due to only royalties and through auction.

In 2002 the IDCOL made an abortive attempt to give away the mines to Jindal Stainless at a throw away considerations ignoring higher bids by Tata Steel and Visa Industries.

The ill-conceived move by the bureaucrats was foiled by the Orissa High Court, which passed adverse comments regarding the Government of Orissa attempt to compromise public interest in the deal.

Both the State Government and IDCOL appealed before the apex court to get relief with considerable cost and time.

Supreme Court’s order for re-bidding how ever has now materialized.

To the amazement of every one Jindal Stainless which had offered a sum of Rs.38 per ton has now come up with a bid of Rs.3000 per ton for ore having 48 per cent chromium.

And on average they have offered per ton Rs.900.

Visa Industries has out bid Jindal Stainless with an offer of Rs.7000 per ton of chrome having 48 per cent of chromium content.

Even assuming the changes in the commodity prices which have taken place in last 5 years is too much than the price offered earlier.

The colossal loss to the flagship Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), IDCOL can be well imagined if the Jindal Stainless had succeeded in 2002.

Now with opening the financial bids of the participants, it underscores the point that the State Government’s Policy for leasing out the mineral resources of the state is faulty and not at all in the best interest of the state, said a financial analyst.

To take the advantage of high price in demand of metals and minerals in the international market, corporate giants and multinationals like POSCO, Arcelor- Mittal, Essar, Vedanta, Jindal, Bhusan and many others are flocking to Orissa to corner mining leases.

The State Government  … Yet they do not learn from the Tangarpada experience.

… Under the MMDR Act, mines can be reserved for the PSUs and leased out to the State owned companies like IDCOL and OMC.

These PSU can auction the mines among the credible parties after floating world tender for value addition and derive bonanza.

Till date no body knows about the “Policy of Value Addition” of the Government of Orissa.

The Policy should come up immediately and it should be implemented in letter and spirit for the interest of the state.

The positive changes of Policy will not effect industrialization, but it will give substantially higher rate of revenue to the state exchequer as demonstrated in case of Tangarpada.

The state’s entire requirement of funds for eradicating poverty and developing the state can be generated with the policy change, said a former Union Minister.

However there is no effort in this direction.

…  Instead of Centre bashing the State Government should make efforts to maximize revenue from mineral resources through PSU mode, observed a former Secretary of the Government of India.

Definitely the state can earn much more on just the minerals by leasing it to state companies like OMC and IDCOL and then letting those companies auction the mineral. The possible negative of completely following that approach, especially with respect to iron ore, is that the winner of the auction can then take the ore and set up plants in other states. If that happens Orissa will lose out on the side developments associated with plants such as infrastructure building, jobs and the tax that the state can get from the companies.

What the state should do is to try for the best of both worlds. I.e., offer other facilities and enticements to keep the companies in the state but go the route of auction. What other facilities and enticements can the state offer?  Orissa being on the coast, availability of ports nearby is an important factor and it is good that the state is working on the development of many ports and railway lines to those ports. Easy availability of land for the companies will help. More thoughts need to be put in this direction.

There is a chance that some companies will not set up shop in Orissa under these conditions; but these days there seems to be a lot of companies who want to set shop. So perhaps the time has come for the state to change its approach of leasing mines to attract companies to auctioning minerals via IDCOL and OMC and using other methods to attract value addition companies.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Gitanjali Group, one of the oldest leading names in gems and jewellery, has proposed to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the State. The group’s infrastructure arm, Gitanjali Infratech Limited (GIL), has approached Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to set up its eighth SEZ for gems and jewellery.

The company’s chief executive officer Ajit A Vaidya has requested the State Government to allocate land for the purpose. If allowed, it will be the first of its kind in the State, said an officer of the Industries Department. The Gitanjali Group is known for its jewellery brands, Nakshatra, Gili, Desire, Asmi, Sangini and D’dmas in both domestic and international markets. GIL’s existing seven SEZs are spread over Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

While the gross size of the Indian gem and jewellery industry is 20,889.21 million dollars, the country’s jewellery manufacturing is currently only a fraction thereof.

This is predominantly due to lack of availability of organised infrastructure, structured manufacturing and exporting environment, said Vaidya.

Therefore, setting up of more SEZs for this sector would promote export of the Indian products, he said.

The gems and jewellery sector, which is labour-intensive, currently generates more than 3 million jobs with the setting up of SEZs.

As there are more than 2 lakh workers from Orissa engaged in the diamond cutting and polishing industry in Surat, this will help them find jobs in their homeland, feels a senior official.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd is optimistic about commissioning the first phase of the proposed six MTPA steel mill in Orissa’s Angul district by October 2010.

… Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Jindal said that the work for the first phase of the project was progressing well.

The company had already spent Rs 4,000 crore so far for it and has placed an order for equipment for the purpose.

Of its total project cost of Rs 13,135 crore, JSPL had also spent a lot on land, construction, equipment and other activities, he said.

Jindal said JSPL has a small iron ore mine at Tensa in Keonjhar district and is hopeful of getting raw material linkage to its Angul project. 

We have been allotted coal block for the requirement of our captive power plant and the steel plant, he added.

He said that the company apprised the chief minister about the progress and made a presentation before him, while seeking the state government’s help in availing new raw material linkage early.

The JSPL which signed an MoU with the state government for setting up a beneficiation plant at Deojhar in Keonjhar district and the Angul steel plant on November 11, 2005, had progressed well besides tackling local problems, he said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the decks for Anil Agarwal promoted Vedanta Resources to mine bauxite from the ecologically fragile Niyamgiri hills for its proposed Rs 4,000-crore alumina project at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district.

Vedanta had sought clearance for diversion of 660.749 hectare of forest land for mining purposes to feed its alumina plant.

The special forest bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices Arijit Pasayat and SH Kapadia allowed Sterlite to go ahead with bauxite mining.

The application of Vedanta is allowed, the Supreme Court bench said in a statement. 

However, it asked the ministry of environment and forest to proceed in accordance with law.

… Vedanta wants to dig open-cast mines in the Niyamgiri hills located in Kalahandi district near its project area. 

Vedanta promoted Sterlite Industries had sought clearance for diversion of 660.749 hectares of forest land for mining purposes to provide required raw material for its plant.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

The Supreme Court on Friday permitted South Korean steel major Posco to set up Rs 51,000-crore mega steel plant and captive minor port at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

A special environmental bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan allowed Posco India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Posco, to go ahead with its plans.

With this order, the apex court has also cleared forest diversion proposal for the plant site which require 1253.225 hectares of forest land.

The court, while directing the Orissa government to dispose of all the Posco’s applications seeking prospecting licences within four weeks, also asked the state government to send its recommendations to the ministry of environment and forests that would proceed in accordance with law.

The bench also asked the state government to undertake implementation of compensatory afforestation plan under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee comprising top officials of the state government.

… Posco counsel Mukul Rohtagi contended that the state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation had agreed to supply uninterrupted iron ore and other minerals for its steel project and had identified mines in the western part of the state, some 300 km away from its project site.

… The company can source raw materials on its own and can buy the same from the open market, he said, adding that the company is not dependent on prospecting licence.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Statesman.

Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) offers the best rehabilitation package in the state, claimed company sources here recently. The company aims to reduce the impact of its activities on the environment, wherever feasible. The majority of the sites are certified by the international environmental management systems standard ISO 14001. This includes the requirement that environmental impacts are identified. There are ongoing programmes for improvement across key impact areas, they said.

Responding to the critics of its bauxite mining project at Kalahandi, Vedanta officials said that all 120 families that were displaced for the project have got pucca houses with round-the-clock electricity and water supply. Besides one youth from each displaced family has been trained and given a job in the refinery, adding that a total of 2,500 local people have found employment in the refinery project till date. “While about 2000 people had got direct employment at the refinery in Lanjigarh, over 2000 others were getting indirect income generating opportunities,” company sources said.

Vedanta has also started the ‘Sasya Silpa Abhijan’ an initiative of vegetable cultivation, run in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Sustainable Development to give a boost to agriculture in the area. “On an area of 550 acres of land, nearly 500 farmers are participating in the project as partners,” said a senior official. “Although we bear the expenses for irrigation through a diesel pump set by us, yet the training and support provided by Vedanta through this programme has helped us a lot,” said Mr Dinanath Pangi, a farmer.

Vedanta also offers various self-employment schemes for residents of the villages nearby and especially for the womenfolk. Women self-help-groups have been started under public-private partnership in collaboration with the district health department on the Swastha Parivar project. In a bid to widen its corporate social responsibility, the Vedanta group has also adopted 400 Anganwadi centres in Kalahandi district and will look after more than 40,000 children in some of the state’s most backward areas.

“Vedanta has signed an MoU with the state government and the Sterlite Foundation for the adoptions,” said Vedanta group spokesman Mr CV Krishnan. “As a part of the arrangement, every pre-school child aged between three and six years will be provided a cooked meal of 300 calories at noon. The company will also look after the health of the children through regular check ups and medicines,” he added.

He further said that the company is also undertaking the beautification of the Anganwadis by erecting green boundaries, whitewashing buildings and providing see-saws and slides for the children. Furthermore incentives are being provided to Anganwadi workers. While Anganwadi workers receive Rs 250 per month, each helper is given Rs 150 extra by the company. “The same exercise will also be replicated in Jharsuguda,” Mr Krishnan said. The total expenditure on child welfare activities in the two districts will be over Rs 15 crore, company officials revealed In order to ensure that everything goes as per plan, the process will be reviewed by a committee headed by the district collector, the local MLA and the chairman of panchayat samity, they said.

Mr Krishnan said that Vedanta further aims to improve the electricity network, construct roads and develop better educational and healthcare facilities.

Following is excerpted from a report in Pragativadi.

According to a preliminary estimation made by the Directorate of Geology, nearly 8 million tonnes (MT) of bauxite was reserved at Ushabali plateau in Kandhmal district. Estimation regarding bauxite reserve in Kandhamal district is preliminary. The volume of reserve could be more, an official said, adding survey work would be extended to nearby areas this year.

The Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) recently reviewed the mineral survey activities taken up the Directorate of Geology to find new reserve, particularly iron ore, which was in demand as the state had signed MoU for setting up of at least 46 steel plants.

The Directorate had completed survey of Hirapur area in Nabarangpur district for iron ore deposits and had also undertaken fresh surveys in Joda, Badbil in Keonjhar and Daitari in Jajpur.

Though the directorate had completed iron ore survey work by using drilling method at Tensa area of Sundargarh district, the findings were under study, sources said.

Similarly, the survey had also concluded that small diamond reserve could be traced at Dharamabandha and Nangalbod area of Nuapada district where the precious metal was found along with stones.

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 from a report in Pioneer (Note: It may be in response to http://www.orissalinks.com/?p=1134.):

National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has so far spent more than Rs 100 crore towards various social sector development activities. Creation of infrastructure in the surrounding villages for communication, education, healthcare and drinking water gets priority in the periphery development plans of the company.

Nalco sources said community participation in innovative farming, pisciulture, social forestry and sanitation programmes apart, encouragement to sports, art, culture and literature are all a part of Nalco’s involvement with the life of the community. Successful operations of the company have led to employment and income generation for the local people in many significant ways.

These apart, during natural calamities, Nalco has been donating to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Soon after Super Cyclone in Orissa in 1999, Nalco created 197 primary school-cum-cyclone shelters in the coastal districts. Besides, illuminating Lord Lingaraj Temple, Nalco has set up Mahatma Gandhi Park and Biju Patnaik Park in Bhubaneswar and Gandhi Ghat Park at Puri. The company has also committed Rs 2 crore for renovation of Ananda Bazar in the premises of the Jagannath Temple.

"In education, our focus is on primary education, for which we have been extending financial assistance in remote tribals-dominated places of Orissa. But, despite our best of intentions, it is not possible to fund all such projects. As a result, at times, some aggrieved persons do turn to media to tarnish the image of Nalco," a senior officer of the company remarked.

As for the rehabilitation of the 635 families displaced due to the Nalco project in the Damanjodi and Angul sectors, the company sources said employment has been provided to 629 nominees. The nomination status of balance six families has been taken up at appropriate level. Besides, 1,530 families were substantially affected (parting with one-third or more of their lands) in Angul. Even from these, jobs have been provided to 1,160 persons. Nalco has also been sponsoring ITI training to such persons, with 543 having been technically trained so far.

Nalco CMD CR Pradhan said, "As a corporate policy, Nalco has been allocating 1 per cent of its net profit of the year for social sector activities in the succeeding year. During the 2006-07 fiscal, Nalco made a net profit of Rs 2,381 crore and, accordingly, for the 2007-08, the company allotted Rs 23.81 crore for various developmental activities. "Today, in any investment plans in Orissa, the interested companies are cited Nalco’s role as a responsible corporate citizen."

Following is an excerpt from a report in sify.com. (This report is reasonable; the tall claims about making Naraj like Jamshedpur is reported in Sambada, which is given at the end of the excerpt.)

Optimistic about completion of land acquisition for its 1,000 MW power plant near Cuttack in five months, Tata Power has allayed fears that it may cause air, water and noise pollution and said the thermal unit would adopt latest environmental safety technology.

"We expect the whole process of land acquisition for the Naraj Marthapur coal-based power project to be completed by October, this year," Project Director (eastern region) of Tata Power, Praveer Sinha said.

Maintaining that the company was for fair and just compensation for land, structures and trees, Sinha, who visited the proposed plant site with other company officials, said price for land would be settled through ‘direct win-win negotiations with sellers’.

Rates offered would be higher than benchmark rates fixed by Orissa government, Sinha and other company officials pointed out, adding most advanced technologies would be used in the Rs 5,000-crore project to minimise plant emission.

… Ruling out any adverse impact on the air quality of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar due to the plant, he said water spraying would be undertaken in coal yard area to suppress the dust, while high efficiency electrostatic precipitator would be installed for removal of fly as from the flue gas.

"All these measures would keep emission of ash and coal dust to well below the statutory norms," a senior official at Tata Power’s Jamshedpur plant said, adding flue gas would be released through 275 metre tall stack, three times taller than Qutub Minar.

Explaining the steps to check water pollution, Sinha said fly ash generated from the plant would be stored within the plant premises and it would not be dumped into Mahanadi river or Puri canal.

Fly ash, said another senior executive, would be directly utilised by the cement industry, brick manufacturing, road and pavement construction, fertilisers and for bund preparation in farms. "Therefore, the quality of water in Puri canal or Mahanadi river or Puri canal will not be affected and will not impact marine life at all," he said.

Similarly, he said waste water generated from the plant would be reused within the plant and discharge, if any, was likely to take place only during rainy season when excess water is available.

"Such water will be discharged only after treatment of effluents and its quality will comply with the applicable effluents standards," he said.

Sinha said steps would be taken to ensure that no pollutant material is discharged into the river. Ash would not pollute ground water due to impervious lining of the ash pond into which the ash would be disposed.

Ruling out noise pollution due to the power unit, company officials also made it clear that the machinery and equipment would meet all the national standards of noise limits.

Further, thick green belt would be developed around the project site to minimise the impacts of noise created by transport of coal by railways. Around two lakh trees would be planted in the green belt to absorb dust and noise.

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

An environment regulatory committee set up by the Supreme Court has recommended a stringent mechanism for granting mining lease to Sterlite Industries, the parent company of the London-based Vedanta Alumina Ltd, to mine bauxite from the eco-sensitive Niyamgiri hill area for its proposed Rs 4,000 crore aluminium project in Orissa.

As against the plea by the Sterlite India, the Central Empowered Committee suggested that the majority 51% share in the special purpose vehicle — ‘Lanjigarh Scheduled Area Development Foundation’ — should be with the Orissa government and 24.5% each should be with the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Sterlite.

The Sterlite had suggested that its own share should be 49%, while the Orissa government and OMC should hold 26% and 25%, respectively.

A bench of chief justice K G Balakrishnan, justices Arijit Pasayat and H S Kapadia directed Sterlite and the Orissa government to file affidavits on the formation and constitution of the special purpose vehicle.

…
Sterlite has sought direction from the court to accord clearance of the forest diversion proposal submitted by Orissa Mining Corporation for diversion of 660.749 hectare of forest land to undertake bauxite mining on Niyamgiri Hills in Lanjigarh for its Rs 4,500 crore Alumina plant in Orissa.

Sterlite has agreed to give 5% of the annual profits before tax and interest from the Lanjigarh project, consisting of bauxite mining and alumina refinery, or Rs 10 crore per year, whichever is higher, to the Foundation every year from April 1, 2007.

Sterlite also said it would make a payment of the net present value (NPV) of Rs 55 crore and Rs 50.3 crore towards wildlife management plan for conservation and management of wildlife around the Lanjigarh mine and Rs 12.2 crore towards development for the tribal people.

The committee said there has to be a balance between conservation and development. “The balance between these two would thus lie in permitting conservation not merely for private profit but in a manner that maximises the public interest component in the activity,’’ it said. …

Following is  from a report in New Indian Express.

Raijharan area of Chhendipada near here where power grade coal is available just eight feet below would soon become a major coal producing area of the state. The coal rich area called "Utkal block" has attracted both private and public sector companies to open up open cast coalmines. The block has been divided into seven parts named Utkal-A, B1, B2, C, D, E and F.

According to district official sources there are about 900 million tonne deposit in the area. This is for the first time that private coal producers are going to open up mines in the area which come under Talcher coalfield.

As per the latest in formations available, Utkal-B1 block has been allotted to Jindal Steel and Power Limited in the year 2003 as a captive coal mine while B2 block went for Monnet Ispat &Power limited in 1998. The block C has been allocated to IMFA group may 1998 while Block F came under Tata Spong Iron Limited of keonjhar in 2006.

Orisa Mining Corporation got block D while block E has been given to Nalco for captive mining in August 2004. AS regards to Utkal block A the union Coal ministry has allotted it to public sector Mahanadi Coalfield Limited and four other companies including Jindal stainless limited. The block A was earlier allotted to Kalinga Power Corporation in 1996 which was to set up a power plant at kalinga nagar.

But when the company moved away from setting up the plant there the allotment was cancelled and given to MCL and four companies . All the coal blocks except Utkal D are captive coal mines for power plants. .Utkal D though is owned by OMC will be developed and mined by a private company called Kalinga Coal mining private Limited.( KCMPL).

It is in an advanced stage other than these companies to begin production by December if all goes well. It has successfully acquired all the required land by now without any trouble.As per the records of the district office here 4 (1) notifications for all the coal producers except Nalco and Utkal have been done. Monnet Ispat and Energy which is setting up a steel and power plant along with the coal mine is acquiring private lands on direct purchase basis.

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) which opening a captive mine is also progressing well on the acquisition matters after the meeting of its chief Navin Jindal with state chief minister Section 7(1) of its land acquisition in under progress.

As regards to the environmental clearance all but Nalco got the clearance from the union ministry of Forest and Environment. TATA also did not have the clearance but its case is different as it got the block in last year while Nalco got in 2004.