Following is from the Orissa government press release at http://rc.orissa.gov.in/index3.asp?linkid=30&sublinkid=232.

Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Orissa met the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Shri T.R. Baalu today. The meeting mainly focused on the poor conditions of the National Highways in Orissa and the ways & means of improving their standards. In particular, the Chief Minister invited his attention towards the deteriorating condition of NH-215, which connects Panikoili to Rajamunda. This road is the lifeline of the mineral-based industries in Orissa and needs Rs.95.00 Crore for immediate repair and restoration. The Union Minister, Shri Baalu assured to sanction the entire amount immediately and take all steps for maintaining the National Highway. He also assured an immediate increase in the present allocation of funds from Rs.85 Crore to Rs.130 Crore for National Highways in Orissa like NH-6, NH-200 (Chandikhol to Talcher), NH-224 (Khurda to Bolangir), NH-217 (Gopalpur to Raipur), NH-201 (Borigumma to Bargarh) and NH-23 (Biramitrapur to Banarpal) and further increase of Rs.30 Crore in the allocation based on actual need and expenditure. Chief Minister also requested him to augment allocation of funds for repair of the flood damaged roads. Discussion was held on the proposed Vijaywada-Ranchi road passing through Orissa. This road will serve as a security corridor and also provide a boost to the economic development in the leftwing extremist-affected regions of the State. It was decided that Survey work for this project will be taken up by the State PWD and funded by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways quickly. The Union Minister assured his full cooperation and agreed to have a joint meeting of the Chief Ministers of Orissa, A.P. and Jharkhand early to sort out the inter-State issues. He also assured to visit Orissa shortly to have detailed discussions with the State Government on these issues.

Following is from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=32002.

The Chief Minister of Orissa Shri Naveen Patnaik called on the Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu here today and discussed the various ongoing road projects in the State.

On a request from the Chief Minister for improving and strengthening of National Highway 215 (Panikoili to Rajamunda), Thiru Baalu informed Shri Patnaik that the technical sanction of Rs. 95 crore would be granted immediately It may be recalled that the entire length of 269 kms of NH- 215 has been included under NHDP Phase III and preparation of DPR for four-laning upgradation by NHAI is under way. Meanwhile, in order to improve the deteriorating condition of the National Highways in Orissa, the Ministry would allocate additional Rs 45 crore.

Thiru Baalu indicated to Shri Patnaik that the menace of overloaded trucks has taken its toll on NH 215 and the road condition has deteriorated rapidly. He urged the State Government to take immediate measures to control the plying of over-loaded vehicles on NHs. In order to curb the practice of overloading and to ease the problem of traffic congestion, Thiru Baalu desired that the State Government should organize a meeting with all the stakeholders in which Union Shipping and Road Transport & Highways Secretaries should also participate within a fortnight for finalizing the modalities for strengthening of National Highway 215 which is suffering from the menace of over-loading.

Regarding the Vijayawada – Ranchi Road, Thiru Baalu told the State CM that the Government of Orissa will have to expedite the finalization of the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for remaining 600 km of this route in Orissa. The Minister desired to have a detailed presentation on this project as it comprises of National Highways, State Highways and the Village Roads. Thiru Baalu said that he would also be interacting with the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand to expedite finalization of the modalities for this Project.

Regarding the Road connectivity to Paradip Port (NH 5A), the Union Minister told Shri Patnaik that land acquisition for NHDP in general and Paradip Port in particular is required to be expedited by the State Goverment. He also emphasized for immediate identification of alternate service roads and parking places for easing the traffic congestion near the Port area.

Following is a big excerpt from a Telegraph report.

Naveen Patnaik today insisted on the correction of regional imbalance in the country.

“National integration cannot be complete unless there is equitable growth,” he said, while participating in the deliberations of the sub-committee of National Integration Council at New Delhi today.

Historically, the eastern region has not been able to develop as fast as some of the other regions of the country. Enormous resources are required to improve the infrastructure of this region in the form of roads, railways, ports and power.

Without such infrastructure this region cannot attract the kind of investment that would be required for a holistic growth of the national economy, argued Patnaik.

“This may ultimately lead to marginalisation of these regions which would be detrimental to national integration,” he said.

The committee accepted his suggestion and agreed to include this as an agenda of the meeting of the National Integration Council that is going to take place shortly. Naveen also observed that it is equally important to develop human resource of the backward region for the people of those areas to reap the benefits of economic growth. He stressed the need for enrichment of the social capital of the states.

“The country should be prepared to invest in education, including technical education, health, sanitation and governance with special emphasis on the eastern region of the country,” he said.

Patnaik further offered to host the meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council at Bhubaneswar, which was accepted by Union home minister Shivraj Patil, who chaired the meeting today.

The orissa.gov.in site has a page on PPP (private-public partnership) which contains the Orissa draft PPP policy and a list of projects in Orissa planned to be funded through PPP. Following are excerpts from a recent report in Telegraph.

The Orissa government is planning to invest Rs 125,000 crore in 36 infrastructure projects to be taken up under the private-public-partnership programme.

…Under the programme, the state government will leverage its financial resources with that of the Centre, to prepare a shelf of projects. These will be taken forward through a transparent selection process. There will also be viability gap funding, if the projects are initially loss-making.

The policy will also create Orissa Infrastructure Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. Projects that are part of the programme include roads, bridges, ports and harbours, airports, airstrips, inland container depots, industrial parks, special economic zones and townships.

“We have already entered into agreements with IL&FS and PricewaterhouseCoopers, who will be the consultants for these projects. A few more will be empanelled soon,” said Parag Gupta, special secretary of the state secretariat’s public-private-partnership cell. …

Sources said IL&FS was picked as a consultant because of its joint venture with state-run Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation for the Bhubaneswar Integrated Road Network project. PwC is also a consultant for several road projects. The state has also signed an agreement with the Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) in this regard. IDFC is funding some projects in association with Nabard.

“Two more consultants, including Ernst and Young and another Calcutta-based firm, will be enrolled soon,” the sources said.

The empanelled agencies will help identify projects that need to be taken up, prepare pre-feasibility and detailed project reports. They will then hand the reports over to respective departments.

Some of the projects being taken up are the Capital Region Ring Road, to span 98km, and the Bhubaneswar-Paradip Road, a 90km stretch. Each of the projects will cost around Rs 700 crore. They will be executed by the state public works department.

Other projects include sector-specific infotech SEZs, which will cost around Rs 352 crore and an IT & corporate tower in Bhubaneswar to be set up for Rs 146 crore.

Following are excerpts from a Hindu report. (Thanks to R. P. Tripathy for the pointer.)

Lack of proper road communication is a major hindrance in the path of construction and renovation works being taken up by the Gopalpur Ports Limited (GPL) to transform the existing seasonal port into a mega all weather port.

Speaking to The Hindu, director of the GPL, Mahima Mishra said the existing road that connects NH 5 with the port was too narrow and was not of standard to bear the load of transportation of heavy machines and vehicles needed for th e work of the port. The GPL wants to construct a separate four lane road to connect the NH 5 with the port. But this road project of GPL has been getting delayed as the proposed land is under the Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of the Indian Rare Earths’ Limited (IREL). Mr Mishra said delay in construction of this road could delay the whole port project. He said road transport between the port and the highway can also affect the operation of the seasonal port at Gopalpur from November.

… State Transport Secretary, Priyabrata Patnaik has held discussions with the district administration and GPL authorities regarding the transfer of land to the GPL for its port project. Chatrapur sub-collector Ajit Mishra said efforts were being made for speedy transfer of 269 acres now under the IREL to the GPL. Transfer of these 269 acres would enable the GPL construct its four lane road between NH 5 and the port for proper transportation link.

 

… Tehsildar of Chatrapur Manoj Padhi informed that the IREL had agreed to surrender 269 acres to the State Revenue Department as it has completed mining at the area. About 140 acres of this land was government land and the rest 129 acres was private land acquired by IREL for mining.

After IREL surrenders the land acquisition process would again have to be initiated for the private land so that it could get transferred to GPL as early as possible. In total the GPL needs around 2000 acres for its project.

… The whole project involves an investment of over Rs. 1700 crores. The GPL happens to be a consortium of Orissa Stevedores Ltd. (OSL), Noble Group Ltd. of Hong Kong and Sara International Ltd., which entered into an MOU with the Orissa Government on Sept 14 last year to take over the Gopalpur port to develop it into a major all weather port on BOOST basis.

Following is from a PIB.

National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-IV is at initial stage of planning wherein two laning with paved shoulder of 20,000 km of National Highways is envisaged with an estimated cost of Rs. 27,800 crore. NHDP Phase-IV is targeted to be completed by December, 2015.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Following is from a PIB.

The Government accorded approval for undertaking six laning of 6,500 km of National Highways comprising 5,700 km of Golden Quadrilateral and balance 800 km on other sections, under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-V.    As per the approved implementation mechanism for NHDP Phase-V, stretches of 100 km or more that have been completed at least two years ago and contractual actions on previous contracts have been completed, are being included in the year-wise programme.   Where the distance between two cities is less than 100 km, such stretches are also being included as exception cases.   Cost per km has been estimated as Rs. 6.34 crore. 

            List of proposed stretches of National Highways in different states under NHDP Phase-V is given below:

SIX LANING OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

  Feasibility report for seven stretches have been completed by the technical consultants and detailed is given below: 

STATUS OF FEASIBILITY REPORT FOR SEVEN STRETCHES UNDER NHDP PHASE-V.

 Total 203 firms have applied for pre-qualification for eight stretches under NHDP Phase-V.

            NHDP Phase-V is scheduled for completion by December, 2012.   Estimated civil construction cost for Gurgaon-Kotputli-Jaipur of 225 km is Rs. 1517 crores.  The likely time period for completion is 30 months from the appointed date.

This information was given  by the Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Following is from a PIB release.

Six laning of 6,500 km of National Highways comprising 5,700 km of Golden      Quadrilateral and 800 km of other sections on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis following, Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) pattern has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs.41, 210 crore under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-V, scheduled for completion by December 2012. List of sections of National Highways in different states is given below:

SIX LANING OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

Samaja has the following beautiful analysis which enumerates how because Orissa does not have the industries whose products will be used in making the new industrial plants in Orissa, Orissa loses out on lots of additional benefits that go to the already industrialized states. Hence, Orissa not only needs to set up these plants quickly, but also needs to go after the ancillaries with full force.

Hindu has a short report and a nice picture of the road near Fortune towers. (Thanks to Deba Nayak for the pointer.)

Pioneer reports on some ambitious and expensive plans in this regard. Following are some excerpts.

… the Government is working on a proposal to construct the longest flyover of the State to overcome the increasing traffic jam.

The project named as Integrated Solution For All Junctions (ISFAJ) envisages building a flyover from Master Canteen Square to Sishu Bhawan Square – an estimated length of 1,100 metre.

Under the ISFAJ project, five major junctions such as Master Canteen Square, Raj Mahal Square, Kalpana Square, Sishu Bhawan Square and Airport Square will have integrated management to control traffic.

According to official sources, the detailed project report would be completed within four months. The PWD has estimated Rs 120 crore for the project, which would be completed within three years.

As per the proposal, Kalpana Square and Airport Square would have large rotary shape traffic points, which would provide commuters tension-free time to drive around. Moreover, the total road network between all the five junctions would have features such as parking space, cycle tracks and footpath.

The Works Department would also embark on converting the road stretch from Airport Square to Damna Square to six-lane road for which Rs 80 crore had been earmarked.

The Khandagiri road connecting Chandaka road would be closed for archeological reasons and periphery road development programme around the Khandagiri hill as an alternative arrangement for blocking of road.

Besides, construction of three more flyovers on railway junctions besides an ongoing project Poonama Gate.

Following is Dharitri’s report on it.

The coastal highway is proposed to run along the coast from Gopalpur to Digha. Tathya.in reports on attempts to revive the proposal.