ICC wants govt panel to solve woes of high value investors

Bulk of investments in Odisha has been grounded in sectors like steel, aluminium and power

The Odisha expert committee of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has urged the state government to constitute a high-level committee to address problems faced by companies that have invested over Rs 1,000 crore in the state.

The industry chamber pointed out that at the Union government level, the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has already been formed for speedy implementation of projects worth Rs 1,000 crore and above.

“Odisha has already witnessed investments of over Rs 1,000 crore and above by several companies in different sectors. On behalf of ICC Odisha expert committee, we request you to address the problems being faced by the companies having invested Rs 1,000 crore and above in the state,” Vishal Agarwal, chairman, ICC Odisha expert committee wrote to Rajesh Verma, principal secretary (steel & mines)-Odisha.

A bulk of investments in the state has been grounded in sectors like steel, aluminium and power.

Steel makers that have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government have so far invested Rs 91,655.86 crore, nearly 46 per cent of the total investment of Rs 1.98 lakh crore envisaged in the sector.

Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd is the biggest of all steel investors with an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. The investment has gone into building a 2.4 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel mill and 248 Mw captive power plant (CPP) at Sambalpur. Another Bhushan Group firm- Bhushan Steel Ltd has invested Rs 21,817 crore . The company’s three mtpa integrated steel plant is in operations at Meramundali near Dhenkanal. The steel company’s MoU that expired on December 31, 2008 has been recommended for extension by Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol).

Other steel players who have invested in excess of Rs 1,000 crore include Jindal Stainless Ltd (Rs 6,771 crore), Visa Steel (Rs 3,088.55 crore),

Tata Steel (Rs 6,240 crore), Essar Steel Odisha Ltd (Rs 4,283 crore), Jindal Steel & Power (Rs 2,646.87 crore), Visa Steel (Rs 3,088.55 crore) and Adhunik Metaliks (Rs 2,100 crore).

Independent power producers (IPPs) have invested Rs 27,438.81 crore on their projects in Odisha. The investments have come from GMR Kamalanga Energy (Rs 5,269 crore), Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (Rs 9,121 crore) and Ind-Barath Energy Utkal Ltd (Rs 2,000 crore) to name a few.