Bhubaneswar, Jan. 28: The global economic meltdown has left little impact on Orissa and its mineral-based industries.
Reports state that the Orissa government has already signed MoUs for the establishment of at least 45 steel plants and 13 thermal power plants.
Last evening, the government and the chief minister cleared the ground for five more thermal plants and revised the project cost of a steel project estimated around Rs 53,000 crore.
Investment proposals to the tune of Rs 6,00,000 crore have already been lined up for steel, aluminium and power sectors in the state. The latest five projects would have a total installed capacity of 6,820MW and would be set up at Bhadrak, Bolangir, Angul and Jharsuguda with an investment of Rs 39,000 crore.
For now the HLCA, the state’s highest approval body for industrial projects, has approved investments worth Rs 1,000 crore. MoUs for seven thermal power projects, cleared earlier by the HLCA, is also on the pipeline. The MoUs, it is expected, would be signed before the dates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly poll are announced, an official revealed.
The HLCA gave its nod to the proposed 1,680MW shore-based thermal power project to be set up by Larsen&Toubro near Dhamra port in Bhadrak district, subject to settlement of iron ore mines dispute pending in the high court, said industries secretary Sourav Garg. The shore-based plant is proposed to be set up over 1,545 acres on the Dhamra coast with an investment of Rs 1,0200 crore, using sea water for cooling.
Hyderabad-based Visakha Power has also proposed to set up a 1,100MW thermal power project at Bhandaripokhari in Bhadrak with an investment of Rs 4,810 crore.
Similarly, Sahara India plans to establish a power project of 1,320MW at Tusra block of Bolangir at an estimated cost of Rs 5,604 crore.
Ind-Bharat has proposed to set up a 700MW plant with an investment of Rs 3,150 crore at Sahajbahal near Banharpali in Jharsuguda, while Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) intends to set up a 1,320MW plant near Athmallick in Angul at a cost of Rs 5,940 crore.
The JSPL had earlier obtained HLCA approval to set up a 6MT plant, with a captive power plant of 9,00MW, and had submitted a revised proposal to increase the generating capacity from 900MW to 1,200MW. The additional facilities would be at an investment of Rs 9,285 crore. JSPL’s total investment will now be revised from Rs 1,3,135 crore to Rs 2,2,420 crore.
