___________

Following is excerpted from a report in Orissadiary.com.

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday informed the House  that  the Airports Authority of India has already agreed to develop Jharsuguda Airport to a full fledged one and for which the latter has also asked 815 acres of land free of cost.

… The Chief Minister  informed that the Authority considering the proposal of the State Government of developing Jharasuguda Airport to a full fledged Airport, has asked for additional land of 815 acres free of cost. However, a maximum of 734 acres of land is available near the Airport which includes 418 of Private land. So, the Authority has been requested to scale down their requirement of land through a reasonable estimate. They have also been asked to intimate a firm commitment to complete the expansion project of the Airport within a period of two years from the date of receipt of the additional land and a reply to this effect is awaited, he said.

Related postings on the topic:

• Campaign for international airport in Bhubaneswar and speeding up the airport in Jharsuguda.
• Jharsuguda airport to be developed by PPP?
• Future airport plans.
• 800 acres needed for Jharsuguda airport.
• Airstrips in Odisha.
• MOU to be signed for Jharsuguda airport.
• The complete coverage on the Jharsuguda airport progress.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=63957.

Union Government through Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) develops inland water terminals/ports only on those waterways which are declared as National Waterways (NWs). Following five waterways have so far been declared as NWs:

(i)    National Waterway-1: Allahabad-Haldia stretch of the Ganga – Bhagirathi-Hooghly river in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.  

(ii)    National Waterway-2: Sadiya–Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river in the State of Assam.  

(iii)   National Waterway-3:  Kollam-Kottapuram stretch of West Coast Canal andChampakara and Udyogmandal canals  in the State of Kerala. 

(iv)   National Waterway-4:  Kakinada-Pudducherry stretch of canals comprising ofKakinada canal, Eluru canal, Commamur canal, Buckingham canal and theKaluvelly tank, Bhadrachalam-Rajahmundry stretch of river Godavari andWazirabad-Vijaywada stretch of river Krishna in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.  

(v)   National Waterway-5:   Talcher-Dhamra stretch of Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamrarivers, Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal, Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of Matai river and Mahanadi delta rivers between Mangalgadi and Paradip in the States of West Bengal and Orissa.   

Out of these NWs, developmental works including development of inland water terminals/ports are being carried out by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on NW-1, 2 and 3 only.  Developmental works on NWs 4 & 5 have not yet commenced.

Details of inland water terminals/ports developed on NW-1, 2 and 3 and the funds allocated for development/maintenance of IWT terminals/ports during 2010-11 are:

This information was given by the Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan in Lok Sabha today.

***

MC/MK

This is good news. But just to make sure that the Railway wagon factory happens in Kalahandi and is not shifted to another location, the Kalahandi people should  keep copies of all newspaper articles on this. That way in case the CM changes his mind, the copies of the news paper reports on this can be presented to him. Following is a screen copy of the report in Pioneer.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

To reduce road traffic congestion, the state transport department has initiated steps to connect the twin city of Bhubaneswa and Cuttack by metro rail. The service would cover almost 150 km between the two cities touching 20 vital points.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been asked to conduct a survey. Later the state government would undertake the construction work with technical assistance from DMRC. “The work is expected to be over by 2030. The construction work would start from 2020,” said transport secretary Satyabrata Sahu.

The service would be extended upto the expanded areas of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Cuttack Development Authority (CDA). “It means, people can travel from Jatni to Choudwar, about 55 km”, he said.

Considering the cost component, the state government has planned to lay separate over-road tracks for metro rails instead of underground ones.

Trains will sneak through major junctions, covering almost 150 km. Soon after the survey, the state government would make budgetary provisions for laying of tracks.

…  “It is expected that the population of the twin cities will cross 50 lakh by the end of 2030. Immediate steps need to be taken to shift traffic congestion. As a solution to the traffic congestion, we have planned to introduce metro rail”, said transport minister Sanjiv Sahu.

The graphics accompanying this article has a dead link. It has the list of the 20 key places the metro rail will touch. By enlarging I could read the following names: Jatni, Khurda, P—, Khandagiri, Kalinga studio square, CRP square, Power house square, Jayadev Vihar, Acharya Vihar, Vani Vihar, Rasulgarh,  Naharkanta, Pahala, Phulnakhara, Link Road, Badam Badi, Mangalabag, OMP, Manguli Square, and Chowduar.

The target date to start construction is 2020 and operation is 2030. That is too far in the future. Kochi, which is a similar sized metro area as Bhubaneswar-Cuttack is far ahead in the process. See http://kochimetrorail.blogspot.com/. (As per the World-Gazetteer greater Bhubaneswar has a population of 1.696 million while greater Kochi has a population of 1.564 million.)

Update: Following is excerpted from a report inTelegraph.

… Official sources said surveying the land for the project has already been completed. The legal and statutory requirements have been submitted to the appropriate authority for clearance.

… As per the proposal, the company would invest Rs 150 crore for land acquisition and connectivity, Rs 100 crore for energy academy, Rs 2,700 crore for power plant, Rs 1,000 crore for creating marine facilit. While Rs 400 crore would be invested for desalination plant and another Rs 500 crore would be towards township and office complex.

…Officials pointed out that oil and gas-based industries, which have shown interest in the hub are Alph Tech International Inc., Downstream Services, USA, Richemen Petroleum-Export Oriented Refinery, Dubai, SBM Offshore –FPSO Services, USA, ULO Systems LIC, Subsea Pipelines, Switerzerland and Dubai, Hyundai Offshore, South Korea.

The non-oil and gas-based industries which has evinced interest in the hub are Seacor Marine Inc, USA, Faros Investment Partners, UP, Wind Turbines and Blades, Aerostar, USA, Matrix Global LIC, USA and Virtue Group, USA.

Following is from an UNI report in newkerala.

The proposal was submitted to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by Mr S K Chalamsethy, Director Sonepur Energy and Oil City Private Limited set up by the consortium, sources said today.

The company, official sources said, had proposed to set up an Energy Academy for the development of technical knowhow in the energy and oil sectors and create necessary infrastructure for port, power, desalination plant, fabrication and township.

While the Consortium would invest Rs 5,000 crore, other industrial houses would invest nearly Rs 10,000 crore. The projects, when completed, would provide direct employment to 20,000 people and indirect employment to one lakh.

The Energy Academy would impart training to engineer, geologist, geophysicist, drilling engineer, fabricators besides other technical persons in close association with the international oil companies.

The company, sources said, would invest Rs 100 crore on the academy which would encourage small business men in the Oil sector.

In the proposed Oil city, a port, a ship manufacturing unit, 1000 MW gas based power plant and 120 MLD Desalination Plant, besides a modern city for a population of 10,000, would be established. This apart, infrastructure for setting up of Petrochemical complex and Oil storage would be created in the city.

Official sources said the Southern Orissa, being located on the Krishna-Godabari and Mahanadi basin, has the potential for investment in the oil and gas sectors and Orissa would emerge as a major Hydrocarbon Hub in the entire South East Asia.

In a report in Orissadiary, the group is named as Greenco. I could find a website for Greenko which has a director named Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty. This financial express interview is with him. Greenko stock listing info is here.

Note that Sonepur in Ganjam is next to the Bahuda Muhana. See

• Map: Orissa ports (large map)
• Map: Orissa ports (small map)

In 2008 the Odisha government had proposed Bahuda Muhana as one of the sites in response to a GOI call for a PPP based shipyard. So the above mention plan for a shipyard fits in nicely; or it may mean good homework done by the group in making the overall proposal.

However, Odisha government needs to be careful about grandiose proposals from newcomers, as it may be a land grab plan in disguise.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

“We have decided to go for ICB (international competitive bidding) route instead of an memorandum of understanding for the development of Barunei Port,” said the state minister for commerce and transport, Sanjib Sahoo. The minister said that the tenders would be floated soon after the Minister for environment and forest (MoEF) cleared the project.

The state governmeont has given an environment clearance proposal to the MoEF as the port site falls with the ecologically sensitive Gahirmatha wildlife sanctuary.

… Sahoo said that the government decided to go for tender route for Barunei Port as several companies were interested in the site.

The state government has received expression of interest for development of the port at Barunei from five companies.

Besides ArcelorMittal, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd., a company of Adani Group of Gujarat, Chennai based Secal Logistics, Adhunik Metaliks of Jharkhand, and SPI Infrastructure of Chennai have applied for the port site at Barunei Muhan. The site is considered to be strategically important as it is close to Paradip Port, one of the major ports of the country.

Links for the map of current and proposed ports in Odisha.

• Map: Orissa ports (large map)
• Map: Orissa ports (small map)

Following is an email that I and many other are sending to the PM, the Minister of Civil Aviation, the chief minister and other officials. Please consider sending similar emails to them. Feel free to add additional requests (such as air services to Rourkela airport, etc.) that may seem logical to you. The email addresses to send are: "Dr. Manmohan Singh" <pmosb@pmo.nic.in>, praful@sansad.nic.in, Chief Minister <cmo@ori.nic.in>, ps.moca@nic.in, secy.moca@nic.in, ctsec@ori.nic.in, "Sonia Gandhi" <soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in>, ortour@orissatourism.gov.in

To: Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, Government of India

        Mr. Praful Patel, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India

  CC: Mr. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Government of Orissa

  Dear Dr. Singh and Mr. Patel:

  Yet again Orissa is being neglected with respect to infrastructure development. While there are news reports [3] that Visakhapatnam airport will soon become an international airport, your government is neglecting the just demands of making Bhubaneswar an international airport even though the later would serve a much bigger population, will be the only international airport in the state, and as per your own data currently has 50% more daily flights than Visakhapatnam.

 Is this because Congress rules in Andhra Pradesh and is in the opposition in Orissa?

 Sir: We would like you to think about even development across India and not just about states ruled by the Congress party. It is your prerogative to establish as many international airports in Andhra Pradesh or any other state of your choice, and we are happy for them, but please do not neglect Orissa in the process.

 We would like to request you to designate the Bhubaneswar airport as an international airport and have Air India (Express) flights directly connecting Bhubaneswar to international destinations, starting with one or more south East Asian destinations such as Bangkok and Singapore. We would also like you to expedite the establishment and operationalization of a commercial airport in Jharsuguda which will cater to the industrial belt of Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Sundergarh-Rourkela of Orissa and the Ib valley that encompasses Chhatisgarh and Orissa.

 The Bhubaneswar airport caters to the capital area of Orissa and its nearby areas. While the larger metropolitan area of Bhubaneswar [Map1] has a population of 19 lakhs [1], a 200kms radius of around Bhubaneswar consists of 14 of the 21 parliamentary constituencies of Orissa (Berhampur, Aska, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsignhpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Phulbani) with a population of about 3 crores.

 This area includes several large population centers [Map2] as well as existing and emerging industrial hubs. These centers and hubs are Berhampur to the south, Puri and Paradeep to the east, Angul-Talcher to the west, Kalinganagar, Dhamara and Balasore to the North. The area also includes top tourist destinations such as Puri, Bhubaneswar, Chilika, as well as the Buddhist monuments of Orissa which are of special interest to East Asia. As you may know Buddhism spread to East Asia and beyond when Emperor Ashoka became Dharmshoka on the bank of the Daya river on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

 The area is also ripe for a logistic corridor with existing excellent Rail, Road, and Ports connectivity and with a national waterway under works. Thus an international airport would also make it a multi-modal logistic hub.

 The Bhubaneswar airport has a runway of 9000 feet and it is being extended to 10,500 feet.

 Currently, four airlines have regular flights linking Bhubaneswar, three of which have international operations. They are Kingfisher, Jetlite (of Jet) and Air India. The 4^th airline connecting Bhubaneswar is Indigo which commenced operations in India on 4th August 2006 and would be eligible for international flights in 2011.

 The average number of flights operating from Bhubaneswar [2] is 50, which is more than with respect to airports in Calicut – 50,  Nagpur – 48, Coimbatore – 42,  Mangalore – 30, Patna – 27, Srinagar – 27,  Amritsar – 27,   Trichy – 21, Varanasi – 16, Port Blair – 15, Tirupati – 9, Gaya – 1 all of which have been designated as international or customs airports.  In addition, there have been recent reports [3] that Visakhapatnam with an average of 33 flights will soon be an international airport.               

 In [Map3] we map the international and custom airports of India and as anyone would notice there is a big gap around Bhubaneswar.

 With Bhubaneswar emerging as an IT, Knowledge/Education and Tourism hub, and Odisha among the leaders in terms of incoming investments it is imperative that the Bhubaneswar airport be made to an international airport urgently.

 We sincerely request you to shed your partisan attitude of neglecting the non-Congress ruled state of Orissa (in favor of Congress ruled states like Andhra Pradesh) and  take immediate action on that front and declare Bhubaneswar as an international airport and commence international flights to/from Bhubaneswar.

 
[1] http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1846

[2] http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55629

[3] http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/article478992.ece

[4] http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55628

Sincerely,

APPENDIX 1

From http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55628

The average number of flights operated in a day from each of the International Airports in the country is as under: Mumbai(MIAL) – 654, Delhi (DIAL) – 666, Chennai – 306, Banglore (BIAL) – 280, Kolkata – 231, Hyderabad (GHIAL) – 219, Cochin – 112, Ahmedabad- 107, Guwahati – 90, Trivandrum – 71, Goa – 64, Calicut – 50, Jaipur – 66, Nagpur – 48, Port Blair – 15, Srinagar – 27, Amritsar – 27, Pune – 66, Indore – 61, Juhu – 60, Bhopal – 59, Lucknow – 56, Vadodra – 54, Bhubaneswar – 50, Coimbatore – 42, Visakhapatnam – 33, Ranchi – 32, Raipur – 31, Mangalore – 30, Patna – 27, Jammu- 23, Agartala – 23, Trichy – 21, Chandigarh – 21, Udaipur -21, Imphal – 19, Madurai – 20, Bagdogra – 19, Varanasi – 16,Aurangabad – 14, Silchar – 11, Tirupati – 9, Jodhpur – 7, Leh – 6, Rajkot – 6, Gaya – 1.

APPENDIX 2

FROM http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55628

So far, seventeen airports in the country have been accorded “International Status”. These airports are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar. Of these, eight airports, namely, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram belong to Airports Authority of India (AAI) and three Civil Enclaves, namely, Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar are maintained by AAI. AAI provides CNS / ATM services for five airports managed by Joint Venture Companies at Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur and for one private airport at Kochi. At Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar, which belong to Defence, AAI only maintains Civil Enclaves and CNS/ATM services are provided by Defence. In addition, Tirupathi airport has been declared as an international airport subject to the condition that the international airport may be made operational only after requisite facilities have been put in place.

Some airports are notified as Customs airports which can also cater to international flights. The customs airports are Varanasai, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), Patna, Mangalore, Lucknow, Gaya, Coimbatore and Pune (civil enclave).

APPENDIX 3

From http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/article478992.ece

Favourable reply to Rosaiah’s letter to Union Ministry likely next month

International flights may very soon begin to land at the Visakhapatnam airport with the State Government taking firm initiative to get permission from the Union Government to formally declare it an International Airport.

The Department of Investment and Infrastructure now with Chief Minister Konijeti Roshaiah has written to Ministry of Civil Aviation to accord the requisite permission for the airport and a favourable reply was likely in July.

MAPS:

MAP 1: Greater Bhubaneswar area as per the CDP made by IIT Kharagpur

MAP 2: Population centers and industry hubs around the Bhubaneswar area (within about 200kms)

MAP 3:  International and Custom Airports of India (showing the big gap around Bhubaneswar)

Postscript: Again, if you would like to campaign for whatever else, Do it. No one is stopping you. But don’t act like the proverbial crabs and thwart efforts that are going on. Unfortunately, as evident from some of the responses (see for example the comments at tathya.in) , some people are not even reading the content carefully (otherwise they would notice the mention of Jharsuguda) and instead of doing something positive, they have a knee-jerk negative reaction.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

Jindal Infrastructure Limited, a JSW Group Company, which proposed to up a Rs 2238-crore captive deep sea port at Bichitrapur in Orissa’s Balsore district, has targeted to achieve a cargo throughput of 10 million tonne per annum (mtpa) in the first phase.

The company will invest Rs 550 crore in the first phase which is scheduled for commissioning by 2013. The port’s cargo handling is projected to reach 20 mtpa in the second phase to be operational by 2013 and 45 mtpa by 2020.

JSW Infrastructure will invest Rs 750 crore and Rs 938 crore in the second phase and third phase respectively.

The port will handle cargo like coking coal, thermal coal, met coke, dolomite limestone, iron ore, finished steel products, bauxite, gypsum and clinker.

Out of the total investment of Rs 2238 crore, JSW will invest Rs 230 crore on land development, Rs 243 crore on berths, Rs 120 crore on breakwaters and embankments, Rs 900 crore on dredging and Rs 366 crore on handling equipment.

Besides, Rs 150 crore will be invested on railway and road network while Rs 69 crore is earmarked for buildings and workshops.

The port project will generate direct employment for 500 besides creating indirect employment avenues for 5000 others.

… The port will have a maximum draft of 18 metres.

As per the land use plan of the project, the port back-up area including approaches will be 3500 acres, out of which 2500 acres will be developed through reclamation using dredged material and the balance 1000 acres will be provided by the state government.

… JSW has assured to develop the port at Bichitrapur as per the amended CRZ (Coastal Regulatory Zone) norms.

The company will prepare the Environment Management Plan for the project.

The port will be located at a distance of 35 km from the rail link, 30 km from the nearest National Highway (NH-60) and seven km from the nearest state highway (SH-4).

JSW’s port will have a multiplier effect as it will encourage port-based industries like apparel parks, forging industry, leather industry as well as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries.

The following is from http://www.iwai.gov.in/mapnw5.htm.

Salient features of National Waterway No. 5 – Brahmani river & Mahanadi delta system along with East Coast Canal (NW-5) Declared as National Waterway 5 (NW 5) on 25.11.2008 Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by M/s. WAPCOS Length – 588 km. River portion (371 km) Canal portion (217 km) Estimated Cost (at 2009 prices) (i) Cost for development of River portion Rs. 2230 cr (Barrages- 1843 cr) (ii) Cost of development of canal portion Rs. 1979 cr (Dredging- 1273 cr) (iii) Total Cost Rs. 4209 crore Period of Completion – 7 years Land Acquisition: in West Bengal – 846 Ha in Orissa – 1172 Ha required Estimated cost of land acquisition – Rs. 176 Crore Details of dredging River portion – 10.07 million cum Canal portion – 44.77 million cum Barrages To maintain LAD of 2 m in the Brahmani river all through the year, 5 barrages with height equal to the highest flood level are proposed to be constructed at every 26 km between Talcher and Jokadia. Each barrage will have a navigational lock to allow passage of two 500 tonne vessels at a time. Cargo potential Coal from Talcher to Dhamra and Paradip ports is the most important potential cargo for this waterway. Immediately after the development of the waterway, it is estimated in the DPR that about 11 million tonne of cargo can be transported per year which can go up to 23 million tonne in next 15 years or so. EIRR River portion 31.77% Canal portion 12.75% Rive and canal together 23.75% For Executive Summary of DPR click here

Following is from a report in Pioneer:

The six-laning work of the Bhubaneswar–Chandikhol portion of the National Highway-5 will begin from September, after this rainy season. A sum of Rs 1,047 crore will be invested for the project under the NHDP Phase-5. A consortium has been formed with three private companies, and the contract awarded, an official of NHAI said.

The consortium of Srei, Gulfar and Simplex Infrastructure would undertake the project, which is scheduled to be completed in two and a half years’ period. This would be done on the BOT basis. After completion of the work, the consortium would maintain the road and collect toll for a period of 26 years.

After the four-laning work of the NH-5, this is the first stretch within Odisha to have six lanes. The distance from Bhubaneswar to Chandikhol is 67 km, which would have seven flyovers and four major bridges over the river Kathjodi, Kuakhai, Mahanadi and Birupa. Out of the seven flyovers, four would be built over the CRP, Acharya Vihar, Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh squares along the highway in Bhubaneswar.

As per the PIB at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55628 dated December, 10

So far, seventeen airports in the country have been accorded “International Status”. These airports are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar. … Some airports are notified as Customs airports which can also cater to international flights. The customs airports are Varanasai, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), Patna, Mangalore, Lucknow, Gaya, Coimbatore and Pune (civil enclave).

The following map shows the above airports. As one may notice there is a huge part around Odisha, Northern Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh that is not served by an international or customs airport. To serve those regions it is important that international connectivity is brought to Bhubaneswar airport.

Following is from an East Coast Railways press release:

Ministry of Railways will introduce the new Bhubanewar-Rameswaram-Bhubaneswar weekly express with effect from 21st May 2010 from Bhubaneswar and from 23rd May 2010 from Rameswaram.

8496 Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram –Bhubaneswar weekly express will leave Bhubaneswar at 12.00 noon on every Friday and will arrive Rameswaram at 11.55 pm on every Saturday.  In the return direction, 8495 Rameswaram-Bhubaneswar weekly express will leave Rameswaram at 6.30 a.m on every Sunday and will arrive Bhubaneswar at 6.40 pm on every Monday.

8496/8495 Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram-Bhubaneswar weekly express will have stoppages at Khurda Road , Brahmapur, Vizianagaram, Duvvada, Vijayawada, Gudur, Chennai Egmore, Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai, Kumbakanam, Thanjavur, Tiruchirapali, Koraikuddi and Manmadurai stations between Bhubaneswar and Rameswaram having one AC-2 tier, one AC-3 tier , 10 Sleeper Class coaches , 04 General 2nd Class coaches, two Guard-Cum-Luggage vans and one Pantry Car in its composition.

This makes three exclusive trains between Bhubaneswar and Chennai. (By exclusive, I mean they will not be already occupied by passengers from/to Howrah thus having more quota for Odisha passengers.) They are:

• 2829/30 Bhubaneswar-Chennai
• 2897/98 Bhubaneswar-Pondicherry
• 8495/96 Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram

Also the newly proposed Haldia-Chennai train may have more room for Odisha passengers as compared to Coromandel and Howrah-Chennai mail.

In general the east coast of Odisha has very good exclusive connectivity to the main Southern cities; Prashanti to Bangalore and Visakha and Konark to Hyderabad.

See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3380 for the other announced trains that are still pending.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61621.

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved the implementation of the project of four laning of Sambalpur-Orissa/Chhatisgarh section of NH-6 and Bhubaneshwar-Puri Section of NH-203 in the State of Orissa under NHDP Phase III on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT ) pattern.

The total project cost of Sambalpur-Bargarh-Orissa/Chhatisgarh Border is estimated at Rs.909 crore under the DBFO pattern. The concession period of the project shall be for 30 years including a construction period of 30 months.

The total project cost of Bhubaneshwar-Puri section is estimated at Rs.505.29 crore under the DBFO pattern. The concession period of the project shall be for 29 years including a construction period of 30 months.

The project will reduce the time and cost of travel of the traffic, particularly heavy traffic running between Sambalpur to Orissa/Chhatisgarh border and the traffic running from Bhubaneshwar to Puri. It will also increase the potential of employment to local labourers for the project activities.

The project of Sambalpur to Orissa/Chhatisgarh border is major link to the Chhatisgarh and the project of Bhubaneshwar-Puri is major road to link the pilgrim place.

BACKGROUND:

The Cabinet had approved four/six laning of 4000 Km. of National Highways under NHDP Phase IIIA on BOT basis in March, 2005. Subsequently, approval for additional stretches was granted in May, 2006, October, 2006 and April, 2007 for implementation of four laning for a total length of 12109 Km. at an estimated cost of Rs.80626 crore.

See the previous postings on this topic to get a broader picture of highway plans with respect to Odisha. In particular, see the following:

• Plans for four laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela.
• http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2651
• Six laning of Chandikhol-Jagatpur.
• Various four laning projects with maps.
• Fourlaning of Angul-Sambalpur.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

With expansion of its units in eastern India in pipelines, public sector steel major, SAIL today evinced keen interest in setting up a port in Orissa, official sources said.

A delegation of Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) top executives today met chief secretary T K Mishra and other senior officers here to seek the state government’s assistance for the proposed port by the steel giant.

We have assured the SAIL officials of all help if they are keen for a port project," Chief Secretary T K Mishra told reporters, adding that the proposed port would help the public sector to transport coal for its requirement. The proposed port having a capacity of handling 20 million tonnes of cargo would be located anywhere in the state’s 480 KM coastline, Mishra said.
    
The state government had asked SAIL to find any of the 13 places already identified by the state’s transport and commerce department for setting up a port.

The interest in ports in Odisha is due to the mining belt and the related industrial belt in Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. These ports will help the growth of the coastal parts of Odisha. Odisha should leverage these ports to develop communication channles (especially railway lines such as Talcher-Bimlagarh, Khurda Balangir, Gopalpur-Rayagada, Chakulia-Buramara) as well as some logistics hubs in appropriate places in the western parts of Odisha such as Titlagarh and Jharsuguda.

Following is an excerpt from a report in project finance international.

Gopalpur Port project has raised Rs12.12bn loan to fund the construction of a deep sea port located in Orissa, on the east coast of the country. Sponsors are Sara International and Orissa Stevedores which hold 50% share each. Signing was held on April 28 among 11 domestic bank lenders. MLA was SBI Capital.

Update on May 7 2010: From Dharitri

Update on May 7 2010: From http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4058.

… Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, Minister Planning & Coordination reviewed the progress of the Khurda-Balangir Link Project here on 7 May.

This fact came to the fore during the discussion and insiders feel that unless political pressure will be mounted on the Ministry of Railways (MOR), expecting a fair deal on this project is a far cry.

Poor political weakness makes Odisha Projects vulnerable, pointed out a senior lawmaker.

Project sanctioned in 1994-95 with a cost of Rs.355.38 crore has been revised to Rs.700 crore.

As on today this project needs Rs.1000 crore to be completed, said an expert on Railways.

There are three phases in which the project will be commissioned.

Till date expenditure on the project is only Rs.96.41 crore during last 16 years!

After a lot of hue and cry, MOR has allocated Rs.120 crore in 2010-11.

And officials at the helm feel that if they will be provided funding properly, project will be completed in a short period.

Satyabrat Sahu, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of Commerce & Transport (DOCT) briefed the Minister about the progress.

Mr.Sahu, a pro-active mandarin said thrust is being given for fast progress with funds available.

He said construction activities are going on from the side of Khurda, where as Minister wanted also to start construction from Balangir side.

V K Bahmani, Chief Administrative Officer( Construction) East Coast Railways said that as the current year budget provision has been hiked to Rs.120 crore, construction activities is likely to be carried out in 112 kilometre area.

Now work is going on from 0-36 kilometre area and proposal has already been submitted to IRB for 36-112 kilometre area.

It is expected that Rakesh Kumar Chopra, Member Engineering, IRB will be sanctioning in June.

Mr.Singh Deo urged all the Member of Parliament (MP) cutting across party line to march to New Delhi and press for this Coastal-Western Link, which is very vital for the interest of the state.

Following is from an email sent by Mr. Lalit Patnaik on 31st March 2010.

• In last one month ECOR has made tender docs ready for many jobs up to Nayagarh.
• Tigiria Begunia to Nayagarh is 58 kms.
• From Nayagarh side 20 % land has been acquired.
• Some land from Begunia side has been also acquired. But major chunk of land needs to be acquired by State Govt.
• No information of any work from Bolangir side.
• ECOR is waiting for some administrative sanction from Rail Ministry for that 58 km route length. MP Rudra Narayan Pani has been requested to follow up at Delhi.

• See also the earlier report at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3152.

Following is an excerpt from dnaindia.com.

… The port may be called the Adani-Kalinga Port.

The group has been nurturing a desire to have a port on the eastern coast in addition to the existing one on the western coast. It will help consolidate this group’s position in the port and shipping business in India.

Moreover, any group that owns major ports on both the western and eastern coasts of India could be expected to play a major role in coastal shipping as well, for ferrying goods from one coast to another, thus reducing costs, time and the incidence of pilferage that plagues road transportation.

… The proposed outlay is around Rs 10,000 crore. According to current plans, this port is to have 16 berths, and will have a capacity of 100 million tonnes —- almost similar to the capacity planned for Mundra.

… The interest of the Adani group has been confirmed by Satyabrat Sahu, transport and commerce secretary of Orissa, who is on record stating, “The Adani Group has given this proposal to set up a port. The state government is examining the proposal.”

… According to senior people in both the Adani group as well as the Orissa government, the process of examination is almost complete, and two of three approvals required have been obtained.

The last one should be in hand in a few days.

Adani officials said the port could be developed in two phases near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district, barely three km from Jatadhari Muhan, where Posco India plans to set up its own captive port.

The group plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore in each of the two phases. If all goes well, 12 of the 16 berths should be up and running by 2015-16.

According to current plans, the port will handle coal, iron ore, liquid and containerised cargo. It may be mentioned that the Adani group owns several coal mines in Indonesia. Some of this coal is already being imported into India through the Mundra port.

Similarly, the Adani-Kalinga port could be the entry point for coal imports on the eastern coast as well, to feed many of the power plans that are expected to come up south of the proposed Adani-Kalinga port.

Similarly, since the Adani group has already become India’s largest player in the edible oil market through Adani-Wilmar Ltd, and owns oil plantations in Malaysia, this port could also play a significant part in edible oil imports.

The Adanis have also shown an interest in mining projects.

What is not known at this stage is the amount of land that will be available to the port, since a successful port must have good draft (depth), lots of land for storing goods meant to be shipped, and for evacuation of cargo that arrives at the port and transportation linkages to the hinterland.

… Since the Adani group has offered to the state government that it will be willing to invest in road and railways networks in and around the port, such a move could help in the overall economic growth of the state itself.

Such efforts could be further buttressed by hectic lobbying by both the Posco management and the owners of Dhamra Port (jointly owned by Larsen & Toubro and the Tata Group) for improving rail and road linkages on the eastern coast in India.

As was the case with the Mundra Port, the Adani group also plans to invest in power projects near this port as well.

The Odisha government should propose that Adani fund a new railway line along the proposed highway between Bhubaneswa/Khurda to Paradip and also part of the Khurda-Balangir line. The advantage for Adani will be:

• They will have a shorter path for their oil and other imports to be distributed in south India.
• Similarly through the Khurda-Balangir route and with another short-cut from Balangir to Nawapara Rd (need to be constructed) they will have another quick access path to western and central India. 

(The above mentioned three segments are shown in brown below.)

This will be a win-win situation in that it will allow both Adani and Odisha government to industrialize the Khurda-Balangir corridor and the interior areas such as Nayagarh, Phulbani and Bouda. Unlike the Railway line via Talcher and Angul and the one via Paradip-Haridaspur-Jakhapura-Keonjhar, the Paradip-Khurda-Balangir path will have less traffic from other entities, including very little passenger traffic, making it faster for Adani to send goods that way. Since the Khurda-Balangir corridor lacks industries the government may find it easier to find land and local support for industries in that corridor. In that case, it can encourage Adani and others to set up some of their planned industries in that corridor.

All of the above assume that the above dnaindia.com report is correct in that Adani aims to import coal and oil through this port and not focus on exporting minerals from Odisha.

Railway Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee had announced during the 2010 Railway budget that all new trains, extensions and frequency increases that were announced in the 2009 budget will be implemented by the end of March 2010. That day is 8 days away. Following are the trains mentioned in 2009 budget and the subsequent time table that are relevant to Odisha and that are yet to be implemented.

• 2745/46 Puri-LTT weekly express (weekly): SECR announcement has come regarding its implementation. See this and this. With the implementation of this connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Mumbai will further increase to a daily Konark express and four times a week trains via Angul.
• 5643/44 Puri-Kamakhya Express (weekly)
• 8107/08 Rourkela Koraput Express (daily)
• 2281/82 Bhubaneswar- New Delhi Duranto express (weekly)
• 2847/48 Howrah Yeshvantpur Express (weekly) – This train may be scrapped as a new 2245/46 Howrah-Yeshvantpur Duronto express, which was not in the 2009 budget (nor in the time table), was suddenly introduced few months back and the 2010 budget increases the frequency of that train to 4 times a week. If the 2847/48 is scrapped then it will be a loss to Odisha as the Duronto has no commercial stops in between.
• 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express (daily) – Extension to Puri.
• 8415/16 Puri-Kendujhargarh Express (daily) – Extension to Barbil. [Finally done on 8th February, 2012]
• 2443/44 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express – Frequency increase to 4 times a week. Prior to 2009 budget it was 2 times a week. Some time back after the 2009 budget it was made 3 times a week. Once it becomes 4 times a week there will be a daily Rajdhani between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. (Update: Became 4 times a week in the end of April 2010.)

In addition the 8495/96 Bhubaneswar – Rameswaram Express, which was announced in the 2007-08 Railway budget, is yet to be operationalized. The delay has been due to the gauge conversion that was going on on part of the route. It is complete now. So this train should start running any day now. (Update: It will start on May 21, 2010.)

Looking ahead the trains relevant to Odisha that were announced in the 2010 budget are: 

1. Guwahati-Mumbai(Weekly) via Howrah-Tatanagar-Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Nagpur unreserved train. [Done: December 2010]
2. Howrah-Chennai- Puducherry- Madurai – Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore – Mysore – Chennai-Howrah Bharat Tirth tourist train (?)
3. Howrah- Vizag- Hyderabad- Araku- Howrah Bharat Tirth tourist train (?)
4. Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad Bharat Tirth tourist train
5. Puri – Howrah daytime Duronto [Done: December 7 2010]
6. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar (Weekly) [DONE: April 2010]
7. Haldia – Chennai Express (Weekly) [Done: December 2010]
8. New Jalpaiguri – Chennai Express (Weekly) [Done: January 2011]
9. Bhubaneswar-Pune Express (Weekly) [Done: February 24 2011]
10. Sambalpur-Howrah Express (Weekly) [Done: December 11 2010]
11. Howrah – Berhampur Express (Tri- weekly)  (?)
12. Baripada – Shalimar Intercity Express (Tri – weekly) [Done: January 2011]
13. Howrah – Shirdi Express (Weekly) [Done: February 24 2011]
14. Puri – Valsad Express (Weekly) via Katni- Bhopal – Vadodara [Done: February 2011]
15. Puri-Digha Express (Weekly) [Done: December 11 2010]
16. Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road Passenger [Done: January 2011]
17. Naupada-Gunupur Passenger (after gauge conversion) [Puri-Palasa  passenger extended to Paralakhemundi from December 18 2010]
18. 2807/2808 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from 3 days to 5 days [Done: January 2011]
19. 2831/2832 Bhubaneswer-Hatia Garib Rath to Dhanbad (Tri-weekly) [Done: January 9th 2011]
20. 8425/8426 Puri –Raipur Express to Durg (Daily) [DONE: August 1 2010]
21. 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur (Daily) [Done: December 17 2010]
22. 209/210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger to Talcher Road (Daily) [Done: December 18 2010]
23. Howrah-Sri Satya Sai Prasanti Nilayam Express (weekly) [Not announced in the budget but announced during the budget discussion in the parliament.] [Done: February 2011]

Recently unhappiness is brewing because of various trains bypassing Cuttack. See the following news item from Samaja.

I believe there is a easy solution to this: Develop the Naraj station to have express train stops and develop the accessibility of the Naraj station from the roads that goes from Naraj to Bidanasi side of Cuttack.

I wrote about it earlier in http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1967. Following are some excerpts from that article.

Naraj Station lies across Kathjodi river about 1 km away from the bridge. It is about 2 kms from the proposed 2nd campus of Ravenshaw university, 3-4 km from Bidanasi-CDA and within 1 km from the proposed Sri Sri University. 

Several trains in the BBS (Bhubaneswar)-SBP (Sambalpur) line such as 2893 (BBS-BLGR superfast), 8304 (Puri-SBP Intercity), 8405 (Puri-ADI), 8507 (VSK-ASR) skip Cuttack and go via Naraj without stopping there. By developing the Naraj station a bit more, developing the road between the station and the bridge, and introducing stops at Naraj station people in Cuttack will be able to easily access these trains.

… Naraj is really very close to Cuttack; much close to Cuttack than Barang or the proposed station between Barang and Patia. Also, Naraj station is much closer to the newer parts of Cuttack (such as CDA and Bidanasi) than the Cuttack station. Also, a lot of development is planned near Naraj that includes the Sri Sri University, National Law University and 2nd campus of Ravenshaw University. …

There were some concerns regarding the overlap with the proposed New Barang station between Patia and Bhubaneswar. I think with the rate Cuttack-Bhubaneswar area is growing even if a major station in the form of a New Barang station comes up, it will be still a good idea to have a express stop station in Naraj.

In the not too far future the greater Bhubaneswar area would need five stations: Khurda Rd, Bhubaneswar, New Barang, Cuttack and Naraj. The following map shows the five stations and the distance between them.