CCI to consider projects worth Rs 33,000 crore

Amid the government's intent to fast-track infrastructure development, 14 projects worth over Rs 33,000 crore in various areas are expected to be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Investment shortly.

The projects are in the sectors of industry, petroleum and natural gas, power, road transport and highways, shipping, textiles and railways.

Out of the 14 projects, six are for Andhra Pradesh, four for Maharashtra, three for Karnataka and one for Jharkhand, sources said.

These projects, pending clearances on various counts including environment, are being put up before the CCI amidst the government's intent to push infrastructure development to shed the perception of policy paralysis.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear during his press conference on Friday that the government would push reforms in its remaining period while acknowledging that infrastructure bottlenecks and delays in projects clearances had influenced and contributed to the economic slowdown.

In the power sector, projects worth Rs 8,214 crore are on the agenda of CCI's consideration. These are a 1,320 MW Bhavanapadu Thermal Power Project and a 300 MW Kaizen Power project proposed to be set up in Andhra Pradesh. The cost of the Bhavanapadu project is Rs 6,570 crore while that of Kaizen project is Rs 1,644 crore.

Three projects worth Rs 7,400 in the industry sector have also been lined up for consideration - a Pulp and Paper Project by ITC in Andhra Pradesh, a paper project of the Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Limited, which involves foreign direct investment, and a cement plant with four million tonne per annum capacity in Karnataka.

The ITC project is being set up at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore, while the paper project is being established at a cost of Rs 2,400 crore and the cement factory for Rs 1,500 crore.

With regard to the petroleum and natural gas sector, two projects worth Rs 5,898 crore are under consideration - an LNG project and Resitement of Marketing Terminals project in Andhra Pradesh. The LNG project will cost Rs 5,000 crore while the Resitement Terminals are being set up at a cost of Rs 898 crore.

In the road transport and highways sector, the projects are -- Oriental Nagpur Bypass Construction in Maharashtra and Hospet Chitradurga Tollways in Karnataka. The Nagpur Bypass project will cost Rs 1,170 crore while the Chitradurga Tollways will cost Rs 1,033 crore. The projects in the shipping sector are -- Vijaydurg Ports project costing Rs 2,500 crore and Dighi Port project costing Rs 1,432 crore. A railway project each in Jharkhand and Karnataka are also proposed to be considered by the CCI. These are Koderma-Ranchi new line project costing around Rs 2,957 crore and Hassan-Bangalore new line costing Rs 1,290 crore. In the textile sector, a project under consideration is of Lenzing Modi Fibers India Pvt Limited in Maharashtra costing Rs 1,285 crore.