Odisha plans to restore coastal green cover
Uprooted trees in Puri. Nearly 22 lakh trees have been destroyed in the cyclone in Odisha.Biswaranjan Rout Cyclone Fani-hit State aims at planting over 1.3 crore saplings as per a five-year scheme
Uprooted trees in Puri. Nearly 22 lakh trees have been destroyed in the cyclone in Odisha.Biswaranjan Rout Cyclone Fani-hit State aims at planting over 1.3 crore saplings as per a five-year scheme
The state energy department has rejected the plea of Jharsuguda-based SMC Power Generation to waive off energy duty imposed on it citing the explanation provided by the company as unsatisfactory. “It was observed that the reasons stated regarding attrition at the company were not sound enough to be considered and even the delay in documentation was on account of defects and deficiencies found at the company plant during inspection,” said Chief Secretary B K Patnaik, presiding over the meeting on SMC Power plea.
Slamming Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for opposing disinvestment of Nalco, Union Mines Minister Dinsha Patel today said there was a move to offload 30 per cent stake in the aluminium giant when Patnaik was at the Centre. The government, now is discussing selling off only 12.5 per cent stake. "When Naveen Patnaik was Union Mines minister, there was a move by the then NDA government for 30 per cent disinvestment in Nalco. However, now discussions are on for divesting only 12.5 per cent in the Navaratna PSU," Patel told reporters here.
In a bid to provide rapid and safe mass transport, Odisha government has envisioned a futuristic plan for setting up Monorail transit system in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. A proposal to set up the facility has been given by Engineering Projects India Limited (EPI), official sources said here on Wednesday. A presentation made before the state government described the monorail system as a technological innovation entailing many advantages for optimum flow of passengers.
The railways are “devoid of compassion” that they violate the law and ignore specific information, resulting in elephants being run over by speeding trains, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan has said. In a strongly-worded letter to her counterpart at the Ministry of Railways Pawan Kumar Bansal on Monday, Ms. Natarajan pointed out that in the December 30 mowing down of five elephants — including a pregnant female — by the Coromandel Express in Odisha, specific information was given to railway personnel about the movement of elephant herds in the area.
Steel units and sponge iron makers operating in the state without raw material linkages have demanded holding of separate e-auctions for local end-use industries and bidders having units outside the state. “There should be separate e-auctions for Odisha-based industries and units located outside the state. While units outside the state will only pay commission to the state government for the ore bought through auction, local units are contributing in many ways like payment of taxes and employment generation,” said P L Kandoi, president, All Odisha Steel Federation (AOSF), a body representing the interests of local steel units and sponge iron manufacturers.
The Odisha Sponge Iron Manufacturers' Association is seeking a long-term policy to supply ore to local industries Faced with shortage of raw material and high prices of iron ore, sponge iron makers in Odisha have asked state-controlled miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to abandon the auction-based method of price determination. “OMC should abandon the current auction-based method of price determination and bring down the prices of its iron ore. The corporation should also dispense with the system of empanelment and its raw material may be made available to all state-based industries only,” said P L Mohanty, chairman of the Odisha Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association (OSIMA).
Sterlite Energy Ltd (SEL), a Vedanta group firm, has so far paid Rs 33.6 crore to the state Environment Management Fund in two tranches. It deposited Rs 19.22 crore in August for the previous year charges and recently submitted a demand draft of Rs 14.39 crore towards the fund for the six month period between April to October 2012. According to the government policy, the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) must have to contribute six paise per unit every year to the fund for the power sold outside the state. The fund will act as an agency to reduce the carbon emission in the state.
Land acquisition drive for Posco steel unit project in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district which was scheduled to commence from today failed to take off. "The work was to recommence today. But due to unavoidable reasons it could not be taken up. It'll start soon," Paradip additional district magistrate Surajit Das said. The land acquisition work had been suspended in the area since a violence in the area on June 10, 2011.
The Odisha government has targeted to commission PPP (public private partnership) projects worth Rs 5,000 crore during the 12th Plan period (2012-17). “The state government has identified 54 projects for implementation on the PPP mode. Of these, 12 projects are already operational while nine are under various stages of construction. Bidding process has been completed for 23 projects and concessionaire agreements have been signed for 31 others,” said Maheshwar Mohanty, minister for planning & coordination after the governing body of Odisha PPP technical society.
The Odisha government has decided to rope in Rail India Technical and Economic Services (Rites), the engineering and consultancy arm of Indian Railways, to make an assessment of land requirement for non-major port projects. “We are going to engage Rites for assessing land need of non-major port projects in the state. We have already got government approval for the same,” said a top commerce & transport department official.