Centre, Odisha to jointly vet 22 major projects

Projects of IOCL, Vedanta, Aditya Aluminium, JSPL in the agenda

The project monitoring group of the Cabinet secretariat will vet the progress of 22 large projects in Odisha across sectors like coal, mining, steel, petrochemicals, Railways and power on Friday.

A 10-member team led by Anil Swaroop, additional secretary, Cabinet secretariat, will negotiate with the Odisha chief secretary and other concerned officials on problems impeding the progress of these projects. The meet is aimed at fast tracking approvals and clearances in respect of these projects.

The projects to be reviewed include the refinery proposed by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), steel projects of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and Monnet Ispat & Energy, the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) and an aluminium smelter of Aditya Aluminium Ltd to name a few.

The deliberations will also focus on headway achieved in case of key rail link projects like Paradeep-Haridaspur, Talcher-Bimlagarh and Angul-Sukinda.

“The Cabinet secretariat’s project monitoring group has identified 22 projects that require deliberation with the state government. The group's mandate is to review large infrastructure and manufacturing projects,” said a senior official with the state planning & coordination department.

IOCL’s 15 million tonne oil refinery at Paradeep, taken up at an investment of Rs 29,777 crore is nearing commissioning with 93.2 per cent of the work completed. The project’s residual work has been held up by deteriorating law and order situation in the Paradeep area.

Another IOCL project – Paradeep-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline has been delayed due to non-receipt of no-objection certificate for obtaining forest clearance. Also, the oil marketing firm’s Paradeep-Raipur-Ranchi pipeline involving a cost of Rs 1,793 crore is battling delay in getting Stage-II forest clearance and law and order issues.

JSPL is setting up a six million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant and 900 Mw captive power plant (CPP) near Angul. The company has completed laying of 22.5 km of RoW (Right of Way) water pipeline for the power plant while the balance 6.4 km length is pending due to opposition from the locals.

Aditya Aluminium Ltd, a unit of Hindalco Industries Ltd, is facing problems with respect to processing of forest clearance for its linked coal block Talabira-II and III, a matter pending at the Odisha government level. The company had lined up Rs 13,195 crore investment for establishment of a one million tonne per annum alumina refinery at Rayagada and 0.36 mtpa aluminium smelter at Lapanga near Sambalpur.

The Mahaguj coal mining project proposed at Chhendipada in Angul district has been marred by strong resistance from local residents to public hearing. Moreover, the demand for 33 per cent free power from coal washery rejects from the state government is set to render the project unviable. Mahaguj is a joint venture between Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation.

Among the rail projects, the Rs 1,000-crore Paradeep-Haridaspur rail project has been delayed since the application for Stage-I forest clearance is yet to be submitted to the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF). Similarly, Stage-I forest clearance is held up for the Talcher-Bimlagarh rail link.