Orissa, which has earned the tag of an 'investors' paradise', has so far cleared 177 investment proposals across sectors worth Rs 6.72 lakh crore. These proposals were from among 324 applications received by the state owned Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation (Ipicol).
The state has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with 88 players including 50 in the steel sector, 27 Independent Power producers (IPPs), three in cement, three in aluminium sector, four in the port sector and the remaining in areas like downstream industries and auto ancillaries.
Of the total investments proposed, power sector has the biggest share at 40 per cent, followed by manufacturing at 33 per cent, mining at 15 per cent, transport & communication at eight per cent, services at two per cent and irrigation and construction at one per cent.
The state has been consistently ranked one between 2005 and 2009 by the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE) in terms of total investments attracted in the manufacturing sector.
The Orissa government has earned a revenue of Rs 1031.21 crore (as on March 31, 2010) from the steel companies that have entered into MoUs with it. Besides, these steel companies have paid a revenue of Rs 1976.01 crore to the Government of India. As many as 50 steel players have entered into MoUs with the state government and 29 of them have resumed partial production. Together, the steel companies have generated direct employment for 21617 people besides offering indirect employment to 52546 others. Out of the direct job creation in the steel projects, 14544 are from within Orissa while the remaining 7073 are from outside the state. In the indirect category, 37942 people are from Orissa while 14604 are from outside the state.
The steel players have invested Rs 50325.77 crore, achieving a steel production capacity of 7.79 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and Captive Power Plant (CPP) production of 1062 MW. The companies that have gone into steel production post signing of MoUs are Bhushan Power & Steel (1.5 mtpa), Shyam DRI Power (0.20 mtpa), Rathi Udyog (0.15 mtpa), Viraj Steel & Energy (0.15 mtpa), Adhunik Metaliks (0.26 mtpa), SMC Power Generation (0,25 mtpa), SPS Sponge Iron (0.29 mtpa), Aarti Steels (0.25 mtpa), Bhushan Steel (3 mtpa), Sree Metaliks (0,28 mtpa) and Deepak Steel & Power (0.2 mtpa) to name a few. The steel players have spent Rs 59.55 crore on peripheral development. Among the steel players that have made substantial investments are Bhushan Steel (Rs 12000 crore), Jindal Steel & Power (Rs 8470.96 crore), Bhushan Power & Steel (Rs 7000 crore), Essar Steel Orissa Ltd (Rs 5077 crore), JSL Ltd (Rs 3972 crore), Visa Steel (Rs 1626.83 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 1302 crore) and Brahmani River Pellets (Rs 1169.42 crore).
Bhushan Steel has achieved a sponge iron capacity of 0.5 mtpa, steel output of three mtpa and also commissioned a CPP of 260 MW. The company had signed an MoU with the state government on November 3, 2005 to set up a three mtpa steel plant and a 155 MW CPP at Meramundali in Dhenkanal district. The company has generated direct and indirect employment for 14867 people. Similarly, the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) who have entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government have already invested Rs 12375.09 crore on their proposed projects in the state. Among the IPPs who have made significant investments are Sterlite Energy (Rs 7400 crore) Ind Barath Energy (Utkal) (Rs 1200 crore), GMR Kamalanga Energy (Rs 1145.83 crore), Jindal India Thermal Power (Rs 641.58 crore), Lanco Babandh Power (Rs 873.12 crore) and Monnet Power Company Rs 570 crore).
Sterlite Energy has already commissioned the first unit (600 MW) of its 2400 (4x600 MW) power plant at Burkhamunda near Jharsuguda.
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Out of the total land requirement of 2400 acres, the company has already taken possession of 705 acres of land.
It has been allotted 73 cusecs of water from Brahmani river and also allocated the Rampia Dip side coal block, having a reserve of 112.22 million tonnes. Ind Barath Energy (Utkal) which is setting up a 700 MW power plant at Sahajbahal near Jharsuguda has taken possession of 545 acres out of a total land requirement of 725 acres. It has been allotted water from Mahanadi river.
The power plant is likely to be commissioned by November 2011.