MoUs create 39,000 jobs in Orissa

Companies that have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Orissa government have created employment for 39104 people in the state by the end of December 2010.

In all, the state has inked MoUs with 88 companies across sectors like steel, power, aluminium, cement and downstream industries.

Topping the list of employment is the steel sector which has generated 31164 jobs which includes employment for 22399 people from the state and 8765 people from outside the state.

Next to steel is the aluminium sector which has engaged a total of 5474 people including 3657 from the state and the remaining 1817 outside the state. Investment worth Rs 11017 crore has been grounded in this sector.

In the aluminium sector, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) has been the biggest job creator, generating over 5000 jobs through its one million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery project and 75 MW captive power plant (CPP) at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district and aluminium smelter complex at Burkhamunda near Jharsuguda with a smelter capacity of 0.25 mtpa and a 675 MW CPP.

At its refinery plant, VAL has employed 2523 people from Orissa and 1091 persons from outside the state. Similarly, 1026 people have been engaged from the state for VAL's smelter plant while 686 others have been hired outside the state. VAL's total investment on the refinery plant and smelter complex stands at Rs 9084 crore.

Aditya Aluminium Ltd has invested Rs 1875 crore on its one mtpa alumina refinery at Rayagada and a 0.26 mtpa smelter plant cum 650 MW CPP at Sambalpur. The company has created jobs for 63 people from the state and 34 others outside the state.

In the cement sector, the total employment generated stands at 1502 by the end of December last year. OCL Cement Ltd has generated employment for 1494 people and the company has invested Rs 697.46 crore out of a total project cost of Rs 850 crore for its 1.10 mtpa cement manufacturing unit at Rajgangpur.

The other two investors in the cement sector- Ultratech Cement Ltd and ACC Cement Ltd have made negligible progress on their projects in the state. Ultratech Cement Ltd which had signed an MoU with the state government on November 10, 2006 for setting up a 3.5 mtpa cement plant and 50 MW CPP in Sundergarh district has not made any physical progress in view of non-availability of limestone.

The company has applied for extension of the MoU period.

Similarly, ACC Cement which had proposed to set up a 0.5 mtpa cement unit and a 75 MW CPP in Sundergarh district at a cost of Rs 132 crore and had signed MoU with the state government on November 10, 2006, has also been unable to make physical progress due to non-availability of limestone. It has also applied for extension of the MoU period.

In the power sector, the Independent Power Plants (IPPs) have generated employment for 964 people.

While Sterlite Energy Ltd has commissioned the first unit (600 MW) of its 2400 MW IPP, four other IPPs- GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd, Monnet Power Company Ltd, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd and Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd have started construction.