___________

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa information technology department (IT) expects the construction work of the approach road for the proposed Infocity-II project to kick off by January next year. Infocity-II is being developed on an area of over 600 acres at Janla, on the outskirts of the city by January next year.

“The state government is committed to provide external infrastructure like approach road, electricity and power for the proposed Infocity-II project. This external infrastructure will be developed at an investment of about Rs 150 crore and a provision has already been made in the state government’s budget for this investment”, Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary told Business Standard.

He said that the state IT department was now on the look-out for anchor tenants for the Infocity-II project and software major Wipro Technologies had evinced interest in taking possession of 100 acres of land at the site. Official sources, however said that the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) may delay the process of floating advertisements for the Infocity-II project in the wake of economic downturn.

“Due to the global financial meltdown, IT majors like MindTree and Genpact are likely to defer construction work of their proposed development centres in Orissa by at least three months. The state government is also unlikely to receive fresh investment proposals from the IT and ITes (information technology services) players in the remaining months of this fiscal”, sources added.

MindTree Consulting Limited, a global IT and R&D services company had announced to resume construction of its proposed software development centre, over an area of 30 acres at Infocity in Bhubaneswar by September this year.

The company, co-headquartered in Bangalore and Somerset in New Jersey (US), is investing around Rs 200 crore for the development centre. MindTree was planning to recruit about 1,000 software professionals for the centre and eventually ramp up its headcount to 5,000.

On the other hand, the proposed global delivery centre of Genpact, the BPO (business process outsourcing) arm of US-based General Electric was scheduled to be operational by the third or fourth quarter of 2009. The BPO firm had plans to hire around 500 professionals initially for this centre and later scale up its headcount to 3,000 in the long run.

… The software exports from the state stood at about Rs 850 crore in 2007-08 and the state IT department had set a target of software exports worth Rs 5,000 crore by the end of 2011-12.

…With a headcount of around 3,000 in its Bhubaneswar centre, Infosys has targeted software exports of around Rs 800 crore from the city.

While Infosys recruited 700 people from Orissa in 2007-08, Wipro Technologies added 400 to its workforce from the state in the same period.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

Thirty six important projects worth Rs 19,800 crore are being implemented by the Orissa government under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

These projects are in the field of new ports, roads, integrated commercial complex, ITIs, tourism projects, integrated residential complex, bus terminals, info park and multi product SEZs among others.

… the important projects taken up for development in PPP mode include

• Rs 3500 crore Shamuka Beach Project
• Rs 562 crore Bhubaneswar-Puri road
• Rs 304 crore Capital Region Ring Road project
• Rs 493 crore integrated residential township at Suango and Ranasinghapur
• International Convention Centre at Bhubaneswar (Rs 480 crore)
• Rs 2469 crore Dhamra port and Rs 1700 crore Gopalpur port
• Rs 594.34 crore Haridaspur-Paradeep broad gauge rail link
• Rs 2000 crore Kirtania port
• Rs 712 crore multi-product SEZ at Paradip are being set up in the PPP mode.

…, the Empowered Committee on Infrastructure (ECI) has cleared

• the proposal for appointment of consultant to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for the Capital Region Ring Road Project (CRRR)
• the proposal for the feasibility study of the Bhubaneswar-Paradip road with revised concept.
• the issue of Request for Proposal (RFP) for setting up 4/5 five star hotels in the Shamuka Beach near Puri; 11 firms are shortlisted after the Request for Qualification (RFQ)
• the 4 -laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela road to seek the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) assistance from the department of economic affairs (DEA).

The proposal for developing an integrated residential township at Suanga and Ranasinghapur near Bhubaneswar has been placed before the government for approval. 

The other on-going projects include

• Rs 68 crore Palasapanga- Bamberi road,
• Gopalpur port,
• Dhamra Port,
• Rs 480 crore international convention centre at Bhubaneswar,
• Rs 146 crore IT and Corporate Tower (Bhubaneswar),
• Rs 500 crore Info Park (Bhubaneswar),
• Rs 35.67 crore Knowledge park,
• Rs 352 crore SEZ-BPO at Mancheswar,
• Rs 76 crore Commercial and IT Complex at Rourkela.

See http://www.livemint.com/2008/11/26224633/Kandhamal-in-perspective.html.

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.

Following is a picture from http://www.tathya.in/2008/story.asp?sno=2360.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Telegraph.

Come January, a narrow ribbon of fraying tar would lead you to the hills of Chandragiri where the largest Tibetan monastery in north India is coming up.

The monastery, being built since December 2003, is all set to push the “little Tibet” —where 3,000-odd immigrants have made their home for the past five decades — on the international tourism map.

After living together for years and growing vegetables, maize, rice and pulses, the Tibetan refugees roped in about 200 artisans from Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet to build the beautiful complex with plated statues, elaborate frescoes and expensive silk hangings in the hill in Gajapati district, about 300km from Bhubaneswar.

The refugees — for whom arrangements were made by the government during the Chinese aggression in 1959 — have renamed Chandragiri as “Phuntsokling” meaning “land of happiness and plenty”.

“This place already attracts a good number of foreign tourists, especially Buddhist pilgrims. With the monastery being completed, we expect over 10 times the present inflow,” said said Khenpo Pema, in-charge of the monastery. “We have been trying to convince the government to facilitate in promoting this place in a bigger way,” he added.

The Rs 7-crore structure is spread over15 acres and will not just serve religious purposes but also double as an educational institution on Buddhist philosophy. “Our ancestors had been planning a monastery for long but arranging funds were difficult then,” said Pema. Facilities for accommodation have been arranged with a 10-suite guesthouse at the monastery where a shopping complex would also be opened.

“Tibetan refugees are highly religious. We will soon be recognised as an ace religious institution too,” said Pema, adding that classes for around 200 wannabe lamas from Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh had already started.

The complex is spread across mediation hall, administrative quarters, assembly hall of lamas, chapels, shrines and a vast library of Buddhist scriptures. The architecture of the monastery represents the Tibetan style designed with frescoes out of Buddhist scriptures. The huge golden statue of Buddha presides in the monastery with statues of Lord Padmasambhaba and Lord Avalokiteswara on either side. “We have ensured that it has all the flavours of Tibetan architecture,” said Jaampa, the chief architecture.

Following is an from a PTI report in Hindu.

Orissa government has asked the Centre to adopt a long term plan for Kandhamal, prone to ethno-communal violence instead of seeking any quick solution, official sources said on Tuesday.

Orissa’s suggestion came after the high-level central team headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, which visited Kandhamal today, sought to know what assistance was needed in mitigating the problems there.

"The Centre wants to support Orissa in building confidence among all sections of the people in Kandhamal," Pawar told reporters after the team arrived here yesterday.

Identifying backwardness in education, lack of connectivity and poor livelihood means as the cause behind the ethno-communal violence in Kandhamal, Orissa government asked the Centre to set up a campus of the National Tribal University, Amarkantak at Phulbani, the district headquarter town.

"As scheduled tribes constitute 52 per cent of Kandhamal’s population, it is proposed to have one Ekalavya model residential school (EMRS) in each block to cater to the needs of tribal children," a report sbubmitted to the central team by the state government said.

This apart, the state government also asked for at least six schedule caste hostels to cater the children of SCs who comprise 17 per cent of the total population in the district .

Stating that connectivity was the main obstacle for the administration proper deployment of security force, it said NH 217 which passed through Kandhamal need to be double laned.

From http://orissagov.nic.in/ga/airstrips.htm.

S.G. – State Government

A.A.I – Airports Authority of India

SAIL – Steel Authority of India Ltd.

IMFA- Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd.

Following is an excerpt from a repot in expressbuzz.com.

Oxford Bookstore opened its first outlet in Bhubaneswar here on Friday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the bookstore located at Pal Heights.

He signed books penned by his sister Gita Mehta and interacted with the children. Naveen also said he would return to browse the books at the store soon.The premium bookstore chain’s first outlet in State Capital is located over 1500 sqft and would share space with Cha Bar which offers select brews from all significant tea growing regions of the world.Priti Paul, Director Apeejay Surrendra Group of which Oxford is a retail arm said the store will offer a vast range of books for all ages and interests including a large selection from Orissa and Oriya writers. An entire section will be dedicated to books connected to Orissa and the best in India as well as international publishing. Among others, Law Minister Biswabhusan Harichandan was also present.

The Pal Heights location is 500 mts north of the Jayadev Vihar – NH 5 crossing and 500 mts from many other hotels (Mayfair Lagoon, Swosti plaza and Ginger.)

The following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44799.

The  Government has approved the take over of eight new forest areas under its flagship programme Project Tiger in the country. An allocation of Rs. 32.00 crores has been estimated for tiger conservation in new Tiger Reserve areas during the XIth Five Year Plan period. Udanti and Sita Nadi  Wildlife Sanctuary in Chattisgarh will be the largest among new reserves with 1580  sq.km. area.  Anamalai -Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuaries covers area of 1410 sq km area spread over  two states, Tamilnadu and Kerala.

Annexure

DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED NEW TIGER RESERVES

*****

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

IMRS Hospitality Private Limited will spend approximately Rs 100 crore as a part of its expansion strategy to consolidate its position in the eastern region.

The company will set up five ’boutique hotels’ in the eastern region, with 40 rooms, offering facilities equivalent to a four star hotel.

Arindam Chokroborty, director of IMRS said, "We are looking at coming up with boutique hotels with 40 rooms in the eastern region with similar facilities that match the four star hotels. We have already started acquiring land in Rajarhat."

The projects have been lined up for West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa and the approximate investment incurred will be around Rs 20- Rs 25 crore each, and is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2009-10.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

A major initiative to support and mobilise Orissa’s filigree artisans is on the cards.

The initiative, involving both the central and the state governments, would be launched under the Union government’s circuit development scheme. The project would be linked with the tourism sector in the state as plans are afoot to set up a “Silver Filigree Centre” at Mundasahi on the banks of Mahanadi river near here under the aegis of the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC).

Official sources said the project was conceived to identify the filigree potential in Cuttack and to ensure that artisans were not quitting their profession. An official survey had revealed that most of the silver filigree artisans wanted to sustain their skills provided it offers them benefit.

“The idea of setting up the Silver Filigree Centre at Mundasahi has been planned to link Tarkashi or silver filigree and tourism. The filigree centre will allow the tourists to go to a place showcasing the artisans’ work,” Cuttack collector Kishore Kumar Mohanty told The Telegraph.

“Funds to the tune of Rs 1 crore from the Union government under its Circuit Development Scheme will be used to make the project a reality,” the Cuttack collector said, adding that the district administration had demarcated a three acre plot for the project. “The allotment of the land for it is under process,” he said.

Sources in OTDC said the initiative to give a fillip to the Cuttack Tarkashi art form involves identification of traditional artisans, bringing them under one roof and setting up infrastructure for live demonstration of the intricate method involved in the silver filigree work with a product sale facility. The proposed centre also envisages food, recreational facility and amusement park for children.

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 Business Standard.

The construction work of the Rs 2460 crore Dhamara port, being developed by Dhamara Port Company Limited (DPCL), a joint venture of Tata Steel and L & T, is on track with more than one third of the work being completed.

The work is mostly concentrated around building railway connectivity, channel dredging, and berth construction.

DPCL, till date, has invested about Rs 900 crore in the project coming up in Bhadrakh district of Orissa. With the payments of balance dues for procurement of machineries due in the coming months, the investment figure is likely to increase substantially. “Work on all fronts starting from rail connectivity to Bulk Material Handling System (BMHS) is going on in full swing and more than a third of the construction work is over.

We hope to operationalise the first phase of the port by 2010”, Santosh Kumar Mohapatra, chief executive officer (CEO), DPCL told Business Standard. He said, the construction of rail connectivity from Bhadrakh to Dhamara is going on in full scale and the embankment construction is almost complete. Similarly, the construction of berths, cargo handling system, channel dredging is also going on. Meanwhile, the company has already placed orders for all the machineries.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

"As India has been declared as diabetes capital of the world, a world class diabetes care facility is badly needed in the country," director of Cuttack Diabetes Research Foundation (CDRF), Dr Alok Kanungo, told reporters here.

Billed as the first of its kind in eastern India, the ultra modern Rs 15 crore Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) would be inaugurated here by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on November 14, coinciding with the World Diabetes Day, he said.

World centres like Karolinska institute of Sweden which decides Nobel prize in medicine has joined hands with KIDS and CDRF to extend all technical support for advance research and training, said Kanungo.

"The institute will be equipped with latest equipment, trained manpower, fully computerised systems and everything which is required for diabetes management," he said adding it would be a boon for not only Orissa, home to over 30 lakh diabetics, but for entire eastern India.

Diabetics are 25 times more likely to turn blind, 17 times more prone to kidney ailment and three times more prone to heart disease, said Kanungo.

Kids would initially have a 100-bed hospital block, out patient block to handle 1000 patients per day for treatment, major and minor operation theatres, foot care, eyecare, kedney, cardiology, neurology, nutrition, physiotherapy and other departments.

It is often mentioned that the Orissa government has a policy of not recommending mine prospective licenses to companies until they have invested certain percentage of their whole budget in ground. It seems both POSCO and Arcelor Mittal are pushing the Orissa government to overlook this policy. Orissa government should not do that. In particular, after reading the following, from expressbuzz.com I have a bad feeling towards Arcelor Mittal.  

BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to put pressure on the State Government for mines, Arcelor-Mittal, the largest steel maker of the world, Monday said the company will submit a detailed project report (DPR) for 12 million tonnes greenfield steel project in Keonjhar district only after it gets recommendation for prospecting licence.

‘We will submit the DPR if the Government recommends our name for mines,’ chief executive officer of the company’s greenfield projects Sanak Mishra told mediapersons after meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Official sources, however, said the company is yet to fulfil the procedural prerequisites for getting mines for the steel project.

A two-member delgation of the company comprising Mishra and Vijay Nagar CEO (India) Vijay Bhatnagar was explained the procedure to be followed before requesting for mines.

… Bhatnagar said raising finance for new projects has become difficult in view of the meltdown. On land acquisition, he said it depends on the cooperation of the people. Gram Sabha (village committee meeting) has been completed in three out of 15 revenue villages. A meeting with the people of the remaining villages will be held soon.

Sources said the company is facing opposition from the villagers who want land price to be decided before convening the gram sabha. The price quoted by the affected villagers is reportedly not acceptable to the company.

As per the MoU, the company requires 7,750 acres of land for the project. About 1,400 acres of the proposed site are forest land which requires conversion. Construction work for the project will start as and when a substantial protion of land is acquired, Bhatnagar said.

The Oriya papers Sambada and Samaja have presence in the Internet. Samaja has a web-site with limited news and an e-paper site with the full paper. Sambada only has a web-site with limited news.

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 Pioneer.

The State is all set to have a shipbuilding factory at Charidiha near Dhamara in Bhadrak. It will be the first such private sector venture in eastern India.

The Apeejay Surrendra Group and Bharati Shipyard Limited would set up the ultra-modern ship-manufacturing factory jointly with an investment of Rs 2,200 crore. In the first phase, Rs 900 crore will be invested in the project.

Chairman and Managing Director of Surrendra Group Karan Paul and Managing Director of Bharati Shipyard Limited Bijaya Kumar on Friday called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat and discussed about the implementation of the project. Discussions were mainly held on the land acquisition process and other necessary clearance needed for the project. As per the provision, the work for the shipyard project will commence from January 2009 and would be completed by 2011.

The factory will have both ship-manufacturing as well as repairing facilities. The project would create job opportunity for 41,000 people directly and indirectly. 7,000 people would directly avail job opportunities in the shipbuilding factory. The State Government would get revenue to the tune of Rs 20 crore per annum from the project.

The oil rig factory would come up with the help of Oceanic Shipyard Limited, a joint venture of both Apeejay Surrendra Group and Bharati Shipyard Limited. It would be completed in three phases. The growth taking place in the steel sector in State would be of great helping for the shipbuilding factory, Government officials said.

In the first phase, 75,000 tonne of steel will be used for establishing the ship making factory. In the second phase, the project will require 2,30,000 tonne of steel, and 4,50,000 tonne in the third phase.

The company is planning to set up an industrial training centre at Dhamara area to train its prospective employees. The Apeejay Surrendra Group has also expressed its willingness to set up a research and design centre and a Knowledge Park at Bhubaneswar.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

With Orissa witnessing a rush of investment proposals in the iron and steel sector, the domestic and overseas steel majors are exploring the possibilities of developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) around the large units proposed by them.

Tata Steel is developing a six-million tonne greenfield steel project at Kalinga Nagar, the emerging steel hub of the country. The firm has identified business opportunities worth Rs 12,000 crore in the ancillary and downstream units.

“The opportunities for ancillary and downstream units exist in the areas of operations and maintenance, core specialised services, support specialised services, processing and township management, to name a few. There can be different working models for development of local SMEs as ancillaries and downstream units. One such model includes Tata Steel and other steel majors working together with their ancillary partners in Orissa,” said K Shankar Marar, assistant general manager, (steel technology, at Tata Steel’s Kalinga Nagar project.

…  Another steel major, JSL, (formerly Jindal Stainless Limited), is keen on developing an industrial park based on downstream stainless steel industries, spread over an area of 300 acres as a part of its SEZ (special economic zone) in Orissa’s Jajpur district.

The SEZ is being developed at an investment of around Rs 700 crore. JSL has engaged US-based consultant CB Richard Ellis for developing a business plan for the project wherein opportunities for downstream industries will be explored.

The SEZ is set to provide direct employment to 3,800 workers besides generating indirect employment for 1,200 others.

Posco which has announced an investment of about Rs 52,000 crore for a 12 million tonne steel plant near Paradeep is also committed to development of ancillary and downstream units and the steel giant has engaged IIT-Kharagpur for a study on the opportunities that exist in this area.

According to a study conducted by IIT-Kharagpur for Posco India, opportunities for SME entrepreneurs exist in the areas of structural steel, ready mixed concrete, refractory, steel and concrete piles, pipes, propeller shafts and furnace building to name a few.

According to the study, opportunities also exist in other operational areas like steel probes, mould flux, thermos materials, manufacture and fabrication of structures, conveyor belts and electrical equipment repairs.

The study adds that business opportunities worth Rs 320 crore exist in the area of refractory, Rs 44 crore for cement, Rs 2.5 crore in hydraulic hoses and Rs 4 crore in wire rods. The first phase of Posco India’s project would generate 35,728 labour intensive jobs and another 30,420 technology intensive jobs.

… Aarti Steel has already started its efforts for developing SMEs as ancillaries for its steel plant in the state.

“We have sourced items and spare parts worth Rs 37 crore from 47 local partners till March 2008. Aarti Steel plans to develop two forging units adjacent to its steel plant for the benefit of the local entrepreneurs and we have approached IDCO to provide land for these units”, said a senior official of Aarti Steel.

On its part, the Orissa government plans to incorporate a clause at the MoU (memorandum of understanding) level with the private steel players to ensure that the mother industries will make necessary efforts for development of ancillary and downstream units.

The efforts made by the steel units to develop the ancillary units will be monitored by officials like district collectors and revenue district commissioners.

Steelguru.com gives some specifics of the SME/MSE impact with respect to Tata Steel’s Kalinganagar plant.

BS reported that the 6million tonne per annum greenfield steel project proposed by TATA Steel in Kalinganagar will require maintenance support services worth INR 1,200 crore when fully commissioned. These services will be outsourced by the company and are expected to create huge opportunities for the small and medium enterprises in Orissa.

The services to be outsourced include warehousing, machine shop, electrical repairing shop, fabrication shops, electrodes and lubricant suppliers, waste management, mechanized material handling and hospitality among others. Since the maintenance cost is about 4% of the total investment in steel industry, this is expected to create huge opportunities for the small and medium enterprises.

Mr B K Singh VP Orissa project of TATA Steel said that "We will invest about INR 30,000 crore in the Kalinganagar project in phases and will require maintenance support services worth INR 1,200 crore.”

He added that the group will work towards developing the local entrepreneurs and will provide assistance to anyone who wants to be a partner in TATA Steel’s business. He added that TATA Steel will give the first right of refusal to local industries in the maintenance support services.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

In the midst of implementing a $4 billion aluminium project in Orissa, NRI Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta group, has started a Rs 300-crore township project with the support of a Chinese firm to accommodate its over a 1,000 engineers and technical workforce.

Claiming that the project would be comparable if not better than what Mukesh Ambani-led RIL developed at Jamnagar in Gujarat, group company Vedanta Aluminium is importing services of China’s leading architect firm ECADI at a time when reality majors are reeling under a slump.

"We at Vedanta feel it is our duty not only to provide a conducive working atmosphere, but also best living comforts," company’s Director and CEO M Siddiqi said, adding, the township project would be completed by end of next year.

The township project, a concept popularised by PSUs in India, is crucial for the overall aluminium unit, first stage of which has already been commissioned and the second stage is targeted for completion next year, to attract and retain talent in the backward area of Jharsuguda in Orissa.

The Vedanta project envisages providing sophisticated and urban living accommodations and amenities to over 1,400 employees, who are already stationed at Jharsuguda aluminium plant.

The metals and mining major plans to pump in a whopping $4 billion to ramp up the capacity of its aluminium smelter to 1.8 million tonne by 2010.

At present, its operational capacity is 2,50,000 tonne, which would go up to 5,00,000 tonne by March 2009.

For meeting its power requirement, the company has set up a 675 MW power plant, the capacity of which will go up to 1,215 MW post-commissioning of the smelter’s first phase expansion.