AB Group plans to invest Rs 80,000 crore in Orissa

The proposed investment will be made in aluminium, cement, telecom, retail, among other sectors, in the state over the next few years.

"We are committed to larger investments in Orissa. It is a very important investment destination for us," Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group (ABG) said.

Birla, who was in the city to discuss some project related issues with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, said the company also intends to launch its retail business in the state as part of its national roll out plan in the next six months. "We have several projects in the state and we were here to apprise the chief minister about their progress," he said.

Stating that the projects were proceeding well, he said the company was committed to setting up ITIs and health centres at the project sites. Regarding the resistance of the local people to Utkal Alumina, the alumina refinery project, at Raygada, the group chairman said: "A lot of projects are facing the same problem. The company has sought the state government's intervention in resolving the issue."

He said, the group took over Utkal Alumina four years ago from Alcan Inc and the company has complied with the rehabilitation and resettlemnet (R&R) package given to it. He, however, was non-commital about additional package for the project affected people.

"We cannot commit on the new package. As long as there is a reasonable settlement, we will be happy."

Regarding the possibility of investing in the port sector of the state, Birla said the company was persuing the matter with the Orissa government.

Essel Mining, a group company of the group, had earlier proposed to set up a port at Chudamani to the state government. However, the government shot down the proposal. The major projects of the group in Orissa include Utkal Alumina refinery at Raygada, Hindalco's alumina smelter and a power plant at Sambalpur, and a 3.5 million tonne per annum cement plant in Sundergarh district.