Task force formed to make Odisha slum free

Daily Pioneer reports


With the objective to make the State slum-free, the State Government has constituted Odisha Slum Development Task Force under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik.


According to official sources, OSDTF would help in resource mobilisation through multilateral and bilateral funding agencies and promotion of convergence by removing interdepartmental and interagency bottlenecks.

In the first phase, six cities of the State, like Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Brahmapur, Sambalpur and Rourkela have been identified to make them slum-free urban local bodies, the sources said.

The Task Force would prioritise the slums to be taken up for resettlement and decide appropriate projects for development.

Meanwhile, as an action plan, the State Government has already constituted a State-level steering committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister to examine and approve the project reports submitted by the implementing agencies in consultation with the OSDTF.

The 'slum free' projects would be implemented jointly by the State Government and the Centrally-sponsored Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana. Both the State and the Central Government would bear the cost of the project to be taken up on 50-50 basis, sources said.

Under the scheme, resettlement of slum areas and infrastructure development would be taken up on priority basis.

In order to prepare and implement the projects, city-level technical cells have been set up for mobilisation of people through NGO's. The detailed project reports would be prepared after taking up socio-economic survey in the proposed cities. And it has been decided to undertake GIS mapping of the slum areas of the State soon, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the sources said two Pilot Projects have been prepared — one for Rangamatia by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commission and the other by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation — for 10 slums.

They said the Chief Secretary has directed the BDA and the BMC authorities to prepare a detailed project report for making the Unit-1, Unit-6 and Kargil road area slum-free.

SAIL to invest 12000 crore on modernization of Rourkela plant

Times of India reports

ROURKELA: The Steel Authority of India Ltd, which is at present on a major expansion and modernization drive, has a long term plan to take its production capacity to 60 million tonne by 2020, said its chairman C S Verma, while talking to the media on Friday last.

"Rourkela Steel Plant is one of the major units to be covered in this modernization package. About Rs 12,000 crore would be spent on RSP modernization alone, with a target to take its production capacity of hot metal to as high as 4.5 million tonne from its existing capacity of 2 million tonne," Verma said. "Various modernization projects of the Rourkela Steel Plant are on the verge of completion, as the sinter plant III and the new OBBP (ore bedding and Blending Plant) units will be commissioned in the next two months, and the blast furnace V will come up by June 2012," Verma added.

Verma, who is here on a two-day visit, appeared evidently optimistic about the future of the steel market, and also ruled out the possibility of any adverse market scenario for the steel industry at present. "Despite the global economic slowdown, there is still a big gap between the global average steel consumption and the per capita steel consumption in India, which is bound to go up in near future," Verma said.

"The per capita steel consumption in India is as low as 55 kg only against the world average of about 225 kg," Verma said, adding, in rural areas, it is as low as consumption 10 kg only.

"Considering the large gap in the supply and demand of steel in the Indian market, overseas steel majors like Posco and Mittal are making a beeline to set up their unit here in India," Verma added.

Giving details about the present expansion and modernization drive of SAIL, Verma said, "The modernization work of various units of SAIL has been going on in full swing with placement of orders for about Rs 56,000 crore out of total amount Rs 72,000 crore estimated to be spent on this account."

"An estimated Rs 10,500 crore has been spent for strengthening our mines and the raw material dispatch system, and modernizing various facilities in different mining units," Verma said.

"Besides, SAIL has tied up with the Indonesian government to set up a mine there and couple of mines in some other countries, which will materialize in a year or two," Verma added.

Regarding SAIL's interest in taking over Odisha's Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd. (NINL), Verma said, "SAIL is quite keen on taking over NINL and discussion is on with them and at the government level to take over this unit. If everything goes well, SAIL will be happy to take over this unit."

Rourkela-Kolkata Air service to commence soon

A report from Dainik Jagran
राउरकेला, जागरण संवाददाता :
इस्पात नगरी राउरकेला में बहुप्रतीक्षित राउरकेला-कोलकाता विमान सेवा का शुभारंभ जनवरी महीने के अंत तक होगा। इसकी तैयारी पुरी कर ली गयी है। यह नौ सीटर प्लेन सवा घंटे में राउरकेला से कोलकाता की दूरी तय करेगा। यह विमान सेवा शुरू करने वाली बंगलौर की निजी विमानन संस्था स्प्राइड एयरवेज के अधिकारियों ने शुक्रवार को विमान में आयोजित प्रेसवार्ता में मीडिया कर्मियों को इस बारे में विस्तार से जानकारी प्रदान की।
इस प्रेसवार्ता में कंपनी के पदाधिकारी आर. रुपक राव ने बताया कि शहर के लोगों को विमान सेवा की सुविधा प्रदान करने के लिए कंपनी की ओर से यह सेवा शुरू करने का निर्णय लिया गया है। उन्होंने बताया कि इस नौ सीटर प्लेन में राउरकेला से कोलकाता तक का किराया 6,406 रुपये रखा गया है। यह प्लेन सवा घंटे में राउरकेला से कोलकाता की दूरी तय करेगा। उन्होंने पहले 23 जनवरी से यह सेवा शुरू होने की जानकारी दी,लेकिन बाद में बताया गया कि इस महीने के अंत तक यह सेवा शुरू होगी। प्रत्येक मंगलवार व गुरुवार को यह प्लेन चलने समेत यहां से उड़ान भरने का समय एक-दो दिनों में निर्धारित होने की बात उन्होंने कही। इसके समेत उन्होंने बताया कि इस विमान सेवा को अच्छा प्रतिसाद मिलने से कंपनी की ओर से राउरकेला-भुवनेश्वर विमान सेवा समेत राउरकेला से कोलकाता के बीच दिन में दो-दो बार विमान चलाने की योजना भी है।

Rourkela can have regular flight services by small aircrafts, which would be profitable the operators as well as beneficial to passengers. Steps should be taken in this direction.

SAIL to spend Rs 72,000 cr, raise capacity by 70%

Business Standard reports
Unveiling ambitious expansion and modernisation plans for its units, steel behemoth SAIL is all set to pump in Rs 72,000 crore to raise production from 14 million tonnes per annum to 24 million tonnes in two years.

"By the end of 2013 SAIL's annual production would be enhanced to about 24 million tonnes from the existing 14 million tonnes per annum. For this Rs 72,000 crore is being invested on expansion programmes," SAIL chairman C S Verma told reporters here.

Entire modernisation and expansion work would be completed in a phased manner in all steel plants of SAIL which seeks to raise its capacity to 40 million tonnes to 60 million tonnes per annum after eight years, as per its 2020 vision document, he said.

Out of Rs 72,000 crore, an amount of Rs 10,500 crore would be spent in Raw Material Division (RMD), Verma said adding Rs 56,000 crore will be spent in purchasing machinery for expansion and modernisation of units. About Rs 32,000 had already been spent.

An amount Rs 12,000 crore would be invested in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) for completion of expansion and modernisation in phased manner to increase capacity from two million tonnes per annum to 4.2 million tonnes, the SAIL chief said.

On Natural Gas allocation, SAIL chairman said all statutory provisions were met. As forest and environment norms in mining activities become more string

ent, SAIL is complying with these norms for getting licenses.

To a query on Jagdispur steel plant in Uttar Pradesh, he said construction work is nearing completion. However, power plant is yet to be set up.

Verma, however, declined to project the profit figure in SAIL during the current fiscal.

To another question, the SAIL chief said no concrete step has so far been taken to take over Nilachal Ispat Nigam Ltd in Odisha but expressed optimism on possible tie up with Posco. "We are hopeful of having Posco-SAIL joint venture and discussion is on," he said.

On mines, Verma said SAIL is raising 1.8 MT per annum iron ore from Chidiya mines in Jharkhand without disturbing any bio-diversity. The SAIL is taking all development works in mining belts where activities of Maoists are reported. "We have to win over their hearts by undertaking CSR activities in these areas and start mining," he said.

On Coking Coal possession, the SAIL chief said they are exploring possibility to import coking coal from abroad. SAIL has opened office in Indonesia. SAIL's coking coal requirement is 14-15 million tonnes per annum and it would go up to 20 million tonnes per annum after importing coking coal.

The SAIL Chairman said import duty on Stainless steel should increase as other countries are dumping steel materials in our country because of low import duty. Steel demand in our country is high as 55 kg of steel per capita is required urban areas while it is 10 kg in rural parts.

On RSP, he expressed satisfaction over ongoing modernisation work. The new sinter plant would start operation after two-and-a-half months and the new blast furnace No. 5 would start trial run in July 2012.

Meet to unite forums in disability sector held in Sundargarh

Daily Pioneer reports
HOPE, Rajgangpur, organised a programme for formation of a network of disabled people and organisations working in the disability sector in Sundergarh district. It was sponsored by Odisha Disabled Persons Network (ODPN). HOPE president Dr Dalvinder Singh Bhangu presided over the meeting.

While HOPE vice-president Laxmidhara Panigrahi welcomed all the participants and guests, Ajaya Kumar Jena of State coordination committee of parents associations explained the present scenario of the disabled people in Odisha.

He urged the participants to maintain unity of all the disabled people and organisations of the State for the welfare and protection of rights of the disabled people.

President of parents association of mentally retarded children, Rourkela,Dr Sadashiv Swain, praising the initiative, said the district consultation of people with disabilities (PWD) is unique. “We should join hands for the rights of our disabled children,” he said.

Shradha, Rourkela, secretary KC Pandab spoke about the rights of the disabled and provisions given by the UNCRPD. Additional DSWO Sundergarh Dukhishyam Swain elaborated different welfare schemes of the Government and requested all the parents and organisations to avail the benefits.

Regional Rehabilitation Research Centre chairman RC Behera spoke about the care and protection of the PWDs of the district.

Principal of SARTHAK, a special school for the blind and deaf Kishore Prakash Panda spoke about the respite care and the problems of rehabilitation.

Manjeet Singh Paneswer, secretary of the RadhaKrishna Drustihena Vidyalaya of Lathikata welcomed the step for unification of the organisations working in the disability sector. Also, many participants made queries about the structure of ODPN and its office bearers and head office, besides its functions.

Steel City hosts international trade fair

Times of India reports

ROURKELA: The Micro Small Medium Entrepreneurs (MSME) International Trade Fair started here on Wednesday evening. It was inaugurated by principal secretary (industries) T Ramchandru. He said this fair organized by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and department of industries, is a platform for MSME to know the required areas of large industries and draw their product line to match the requirements.

"I hope, a healthy relationship between MSME and large industries, including the PSUs, will be developed and maintained and the MSMEs will be a part to their supply chain," Ramchandru said. "Many MSMEs are participating in this international trade fair and I appeal to all of them to come and set up their units in this part of state," Ramachandru said.

Speaking on the occasion, RSP chief executive officer G S Prasad said this international trade fair will give a big exposure to the budding entrepreneur of the state as they will get an opportunity to interact with several industries both MSME and large industries and know their requirements. "Large industries like RSP have always come forward to support the MSME sector by providing orders of our purchase items but the only requirement is timely delivery with quality materials," Prasad said.

Among others, Sundargarh collector Roopa Roshan Sahoo, NIT director Sunil Sarangi, NSIC director Uday Kumar and vice-president (corporate affairs), Vedanta Alumina Ltd., Sanjay Pattnaik also addressed the gathering. The fair organized at the air strip field of will continue till Sunday.

Green light for night trains, finally Utkal Express back on route

Times of India reports

KOLKATA: In the wee hours of Monday, security agencies and the railways will keep their fingers crossed as the 12102 Howrah-LTT Jnaneswari Express passes between the Khemasoli and Sardiha stations in West Midnapore. This will be the first time in 22 months that the train will be passing through this stretch after dark. The last time it tried to do so was on May 28, 2010, when it derailed, claiming the lives of nearly 150 passengers.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the disaster was the result of a sabotage orchestrated by Maoists. After the incident, the railways cancelled the movement of the Jnaneswari Express as well as all other passenger trains in the Kharagpur-Tatanagar and Kharagpur-Adra sections of South Eastern Railway between 10pm and 5am.

With the situation in Jangalmahal showing some semblance of normalcy, security agencies in West Bengal gave their nod to start running trains in the Kharagpur-Adra section in December. On Wednesday, SER finally received clearance to resume night-services along the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section.

"We will normalize the running of those trains that were either diverted or made to stop for the night at stations after leaving Howrah. From Thursday evening, the Howrah-Ranchi Hatia Express (and the Down train) will run along its original route. Ever since May 28, 2010, this train was diverted via Asansol and Dhanbad. The 12834 Howrah-Ahmedabad Express will no longer be stopped at Kharagpur for the night. The 18477 Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express will also run along its original route via Bhadrak-Kharagpur and Tatanagar. The 12802 New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express will no longer be stopped at Tatanagar station for the night," said Soumitra Majumdar, CPRO, SER.

From Friday onward, the 12906 Howrah-Porbandar Express will start at its scheduled time of 10.55pm and the 12810 Howrah-Mumbai Mail will leave Howrah at 1.30am on Saturday. The Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express will also start from Howrah on Saturday at 12.30am. All these trains will run along their original routes through West Midnapore.

Chilling cold conditions abate

A report from New Indian Express

ROURKELA: After days of numbing cold conditions, the temperature on Monday moderated slightly across Sundargarh district. The Rourkela City on Monday recorded a night temperature of 8.6 degree Celsius, while the maximum was 25 degree C. On Saturday, the minimum temperature at Koida had dropped to as low as 3 degree C, while Rourkela City and Sundargarh town recorded 5.2 degree C and 4.9 degree C respectively.

However, with the cold wave abating gradually the temperature across the district returned to normal as the maximum hovered around 25 degree C and the minimum below 10.

Maoists take the ‘ballot’ route in Sundargarh

New Indian Express reports

ROURKELA: Presently power seems to flow from ballot box and not from barrel of the gun for the Maoists. This is being seen as a ploy to regain control over strategic locations.

If intelligence reports are to be believed, the outfit is eyeing Rehaltu, Swayambha, Jamdihi, Bimlagarh and Chordhara gram panchayats in Koida block under the K Balang police limits and at least eight interior gram panchayats under the Maoist-hit Bisra and Bondamunda police limits.

They have even approached some local leaders, including the outgoing Zilla Parishad member of Koida (A), Anandmasi Horo and trade union leader Jiban Munda, claimed intelligence sources.

Ahead of the nomination, the duo was reportedly summoned to the Saranda forest. In 2009, Horo was kidnapped by the Maoists and released three days later.

Significantly, Horo is contesting as samiti member from Relhatu gram panchayat. He is vying for the chairman post of Koida block.

The scenario is hazy as each of the four gram panchayats have two to seven nominees for the posts of Sarpanch and Samiti member, while Asbanti Bodra is certain to be elected unopposed from the Relhatu gram panchayat. Koida block alone received no nominations for 74 posts of ward member.

Police suspect that dummy candidates have been put up in the remaining five gram panchayats to ensure victory of the Maoist-backed nominees.

Collector Rupa Roshan Sahu said so far 1,760 polling booths have been identified as sensitive, adding the administration is committed to ensure free and fair polls.

Pollution board takes steam out of Rourkela steel

Times of India reports

BHUBANESWAR: Rourkela Steel Plant closed down one of its sinter units and a boiler in the captive power plant (CPP) on Monday after the state pollution board refused to allow them to function any more.

According to RSP sources, the closure will cut down its steel production by about 40%. The plant produces at least 7,000 tons of hot metal (liquid iron), 6,300 tons of crude steel and about 5,800 tons of finished steel daily. Closure of the MP Boiler-3 will force the RSP to manage with just about 120 mw of power generated from its other unit of 1983 make in the CPP.

The pollution board had listed the sinter plant-1 and boiler as causing a high level of pollution and had ordered the RSP on December 19 to shut them. The board did so only after issuing repeated warnings to the Central PSU, keeping them under watch for over a year.

After receiving the board's order, RSP CEO G S Prasad had rushed to Bhubaneswar and requested to let them run the unit and the boiler in view of the larger interest of steel production. Prasad also told the board that the authorities had already planned a series of modernization works, which would not only augment the plant's production capacity but also cut down the pollution drastically. But the pollution control board put its food down and refused the back down on its order. It agreed to consider the RSP's request only after the latter obeyed its order.

Left with no choice, the RSP executed the board's order on Monday and made a presentation to this effect here before the board. RSP CEO said efforts are on to curtail the pollution level in both the units. He said steps have been taken in SP-I to restrict use of micro-fines, replace both the exhaust systems, put double-cone, double-acting valves in place to prevent leakage, replace the suction hood ducts, ensure injection of steam over the sinter bed to improve ESP efficiency and increase the hearth layer thickness to reduce emissions. Use of calcined lime will be taken up shortly in the process, which will ensure reduction of generation of sinter fines. Old ESP will be replaced by a new one by June 2013, he said.

On the MP Boiler-3, he said certain plans are in the pipeline. These include use of 100% premium grade low-ash coal, installation of new ESP at an investment of Rs 13 crores, reducing the emission level to the prescribed norms and limiting power generation only to the extent of meeting the plant's critical load, till the installation of a new ESP.

"The RSP said it has already started using high grade coal and showed the results recorded from December 24. We are sending an expert team to Rourkela on Tuesday for physical verification of RSP's claims. The findings of the team will be examined before taking further decision," pollution control board member secretary Sidhant Das told TOI.

RSP closes 2 units for creating pollution

Daily Pioneer reports

Following the direction of State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) on December 19 last year to shut down its two units for creating pollution beyond stipulated limits, the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) closed down its No 1 Sintering Plant and the No 3 MP boiler of its Captive Power Plant on Monday.

While 100 mg of pollutants in the plant atmosphere is permissible, it was much beyond that at the sintering plant and the CPP MP boiler No 3, sources revealed. The RSP authorities had started operation of the Sintering Plant No 1 in 2008 and the MP boiler No 3 in 2010 without approval of the Pollution Control Board.

The plant also informed the SPCB about their pollution control measures and it has prepared an action plan to check pollution. “We are following the guidelines given by the SPCB to control pollution,” said an official of RSP.

After the Thermal Power Plant at Kaniha and the Nalco, the Rourkela Steel Plant is the third in the line of fire by the Pollution Control Board, pointing fingers at their irresponsibility towards public concerns.

Rourkela emerges top in group-D of U-16 cricket

A report from Daily Pioneer

Rourkela defeated Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) by one wicket in an exciting preliminary league match of the Odisha Under-16 Inter-District Cricket Tournament at Ravenshaw University Ground in Cuttack on Saturday.

This was the third win in a row for the Rourkela side, which emerged toppers in Group D. Malkangiri, Jagatsinghpur, Bolangir, Jharsuguda and Nayagarh registered wins in five other league matches of the day.

Among notable individual performers, Rrakash Parida (Boudh), Satya Nina (Bolangir) and Maheswar Pati (Phulbani) hit a half-century each, while Ashutosh Das (Jagatsinghpur) bagged six wickets for 27 runs.

BRIEF SCORES:

At Bidanasi Ground: Mayurbhanj 103/10 in 31.3 overs (Rohit Roshan Das 44, Dibya Ranjan Das 22; Rajendra Nayak 4/9, Bhagaban Pujari 2/5) lost to Malkangiri 104/5 in 27 overs (Sudeep Dutta 25; Sudarsan Patra 3/30) by 5 wkts.

At Ravenshaw Ground-I: Boudh 89/10 in 28.2 overs (Prakash Parida 55; Ashutosh Das 6/27, Swaraj Chandan 2/16) lost to Jagatsinghpur 93/6 in 17.2 overs (Nihar Ranjan Lenka 36, Sailesh Das 27; Bijay Barik 4/23) by 4 wkts.

At Ravenshaw Ground-II: KIIT 123/10 in 35.1 overs (Sibasis Dash 36; Subhrajit Sahoo 3/7, Gobind Tandia 3/17, Abdul Khalique 2/24, Kanchan P Saroj 2/25) lost to Rourkela 127/9 in 47.3 overs (Amrit Khatua 27; Samresh Kumar Routray 4/35, Vivek Singh 2/23) by 1 wkt.

At SCB Medical College Ground: Bolangir 177/10 in 41.3 overs (Satya Nina 52; Udit Wilson Lakra 2/12, Swagat Chakra 2/35, Sanjaya Das 2/36) beat Sundargarh 144/10 in 31 overs (Biswajit Barik 28, Sanjay Das 26; Anand Padhi 4/40, Jaykrishna Pattnaik 2/31) by 33 runs.

At Sunshine Ground: Kendrapara 121/10 in 39.4 overs (Manas Das 30 n.o, Jyoti Ranjan Dalai 20; Chanchal Agarwal 3/22, Rajsen Gupta 2/19) lost to Jharsuguda 124/9 in 42.3 overs (Raj Kishan Patel 24; Jibanjyoti Biswal 3/25, Biswa Bhusan Bihari 2/21, Alekha Prasad Rout 2/38) by 1 wkt.

At Nimpur Ground: Phulbani 114/10 in 40.5 overs (Maheswar Pati 61 n.o; Rohit Kumar Behera 4/14, Sidheswar Dakua 3/15, Debasish Mohapatra 2/31) lost to Nayagarh 115/8 in 35.1 overs (Sidheswar Dakua 23 n.o; Sudaya Pradhan 3/20) by 2 wkts.

MSME fair to begin at Rourkela from Jan 18

Daily Pioneer reports

Encouraged by the success of the MSME International Trade Fair-2001, the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC) and State Industries Department once again are jointly organising the second edition of the trade fair from January 18 to 22 at Sector-13 Exhibition Ground in Rourkela.

It will be a perfect platform for those associated with the MSME sector. The show covers a wide range of engineering, manufacturing and allied industries. It is also an ideal platform for mines, mineral-based industries and mega industries to display their profiles.

The trade fair would display a wide range of engineering and manufacturing products in steel and mining, foundry, furnace, metallurgy, welding, power, energy, electrical, electronics, agro, food processing, FMGC, pharmaceutical, real estate, plastics, packaging, automobiles, auto component, glass, ceramics, IT and handicrafts, among others.

Night ban lifted from Tata section

Telegraph reports

Jamshedpur, Jan. 11: The ban on movement of passenger trains at night on the Tatanagar-Kharagpur section of South Eastern Railway (SER) will be lifted with effect from tomorrow following a decision taken by the Railway Board late this evening.

The section is of significance as it is part of the Howrah-Mumbai main route.

The restrictions came into effect after the Jnaneswari Express tragedy near Jhargram on May 28, which left 150 dead. Ever since, the night ban on the section has been extended 115 times.

According to the last railway circular, the ban was in effect till January 13. However, the Railway Board came up with a fresh bulletin this evening, announcing the lifting of the ban from tomorrow.

Divisional railway manager of Chakradharpur Achal Khare confirmed the development. “The Railway Board has issued a bulletin announcing the lifting of the ban from tomorrow. It will take two or three days to restore normal night services on the section,” Khare told The Telegraph.

Assistant general manager of South Eastern Railway Pramod Kumar too confirmed the withdrawal of the night train ban. “An order has been issued by the Railway Board but I am yet to see it as I am travelling,” he said over phone.

Sources in New Delhi said to start with, night movement of four trains would be regularised tomorrow. The trains include Howrah-Ahmedabad Express, Puri-bound Purushottam Superfast Express, Puri-Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express and Howrah-Hatia Express.

Ever since the ban was imposed, the Ahmedabad Express used to leave Howrah at a rescheduled time of midnight. The train was made to halt at Kharagpur due to the ban and it used to resume its journey in the morning.

Similarly, the Purushottam Express would halt for the night at Tatanagar before resuming its journey in the morning. The Utkal Express and Howrah-Hatia Express were running on diverted routes. With the lifting of the ban, both trains will run on their original routes.

The ban was originally clamped on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar, Kharagpur-Adra and Chakradharpur-Rourkela sections of South Eastern Railway.

In the third week of December, the night ban was lifted on the Chakradharpur-Rourkela section.

On December 10, a decision was taken by the Railway Board to lift the night train ban from the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section but following some intelligence inputs from Bengal, the ban was reimposed.

The night ban affected as many as 18 trains and 40,000 passengers daily.

MCL to venture into power sector

Indian Express reports

TALCHER: The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), the flagship company of Coal India Limited, is going to set up a 1600 MW power plant with super critical technology at its Basundhara area in Sundargarh district in joint venture.

MCL would be the only coal company in the country to venture into power generation. It intends to utilise its huge undespatchable coal reserve in Basundhara and invest its own surplus

funds creatively.

Decks have been cleared for the project with the approval from the Coal Ministry following the ratification of the proposal by MCL and CIL boards.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) Mahanadi Basin Power Limited has been formed last year. The Director Finance of MCL, Kulamani Biswal, has been appointed as the chairman of the Public Limited Company.

According to Biswal, the proposed coal-based power plant would be the first of its kind in the coal behemoth and is estimated to cost around `9000 crore. It will have two 800 MW units of super critical technology, Biswal added.

“The power project will be funded with debt-equity ratio of 70:30 where MCL will be holding 26 per cent of the stake. It may go up to 49 per cent. However, the management will be under a private partner,” Biswal informed this paper.

Biswal said under the joint venture mode, the partner will be selected through competitive bidding.

A prospective bidders’ meet was held recently in Bhubaneswar where 42 interested parties participated. Meanwhile, the Power Finance Commission has been appointed as the consultant.

“We have applied for water allocation, permission for change in land use and Environment Impact Assessment clearance,” Biswal added.

MCL’s new venture stemmed from growing coal stocks produced in Basundhara due to lack of evacuation facilities. The stock will be too high in future when the area will achieve the optimum capacity to produce 40 MT of coal per annum.”

Secondly, MCL has surplus funds. As per the Central guidelines it needs to be invested and thirdly, the company, well aware of the country’s energy needs, has decided to step into the power sector in addition to coal production, Biswal said.

The power plant is likely to be operational during the Twelfth Plan Period, he said.

RSP to shut down polluting units

Times of India reports

BHUBANESWAR: The Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has agreed to close down its more than half a century old power plant and the sinter unit which had been severely polluting the area.

The PSU was forced to do so following the December 19 order of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) after the later rejected its request to keep in abeyance the closure notice.

The board apparently put its foot down and refused to reconsider its decision when the RSP CEO G S Prasad called on the SPCB member secretary Sidhant Das here on Friday. Prasad appraised Das of anti-pollution measures initiated by the RSP and insisted that emission level had been "controlled considerably".

He also said that the Sinter plant-1 would soon be phased out after expected stabilization of the plant-3 by December 2012. He requested the board to allow both the units to run till such time alternative arrangements were put in place.

The RSP chief further said closure of the two units at this stage could affect the steel production drastically. The board, however, declined to entertain the appeal. "We informed the RSP CEO that the plant must implement the board order first before coming up with any future proposal," Das said.

"The RSP has not yet complied with the direction of the board," he added.The SPCB had cracked its whip on the Central PSU last month after keeping it under watch for two years during which the Sinter plant-1 and the medium pressure boiler-III of the captive power plant-1 showed no sign of rectifying their pollution level.

Though availability of power may not pose much problem for the RSP, the closure of the 1959 make 50 MW power plant however might affect steel production as steam generated and supplied from it is used like oxygen for keeping alive the four blast furnaces.

The sinter plant on the other hand converts iron ores into desired sizes before feeding into the blast furnaces. "Now that the pollution control board has refused to entertain our request we are left with no option but to close both the units in a day or two. Though our Rs 11,000 crore modernization work is currently underway, closure of these two units is surely going to have an adverse chain reaction on steel production," said a RSP official.

The RSP produces around 7,000 tons of hot metal (liquid iron), 6,300 tons of crude steel and about 5,800 tons of finished steel everyday. Under the present circumstances, the RSP may have to live with another CPP of 120 MW capacity, built in 1983 and the second sinter plant.

Pollution: RSP urges SPCB not to take action

Daily Pioneer reports

Instead of complying with the clear-cut directions of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) authorities have requested the board not to close down the steel plant.

RSP CEO GS Prasad called on SPCB Member-Secretary Siddhant Das on Thursday and appraised the plant’s future course of action for controlling pollution in all the units as per the prescribed norms. He said that the RSP has already taken action in this regard and insisted that the plant has been able to control emission from the MP Boiler-III quite considerably. The plant authorities have proposed to phase out the Sinter Plant-1 after stabilisation of the Sinter Plant-3, which is expected around December 2012, Prasad said.

He requested the SPCB to allow operation of the Sinter Plant-1 till that time as its closure would affect steel production very adversely. The proposal of the RSP was analysed by the SPCB officials, who felt that the RSP should come up with a comprehensive and convincing action plan that would ensure pollution within the prescribed limits. It was made quite clear that the direction issued by the board has to be implemented first, before consideration of the plant’s request. The RSP CEO assured that the plant would close these two units and come up with an action plan shortly.

The SPCB had issued the closure direction for the Sintering Plant-I of the Steel Unit and the MP Boiler-III of the CPP-1 of the Rourkela Steel Plant on December 19, 2011. So far, the RSP has not complied with the direction, said SPCB sources.

Steel Authority of India Limited : SAIL gets Skoch award for Financial Inclusion

A report from 4-traders.com

New Delhi : On the occasion of Financial Inclusion Day, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) bagged the Skoch award for Financial Inclusion under the category of 'Women Empowerment', in recognition of its multifold initiatives in the area of inclusive growth and poverty alleviation. On receiving the prestigious award from distinguished economist and former RBI Governer Mr C. Rangarajn at a glittering ceremony held here today, SAIL Chairman Mr C.S. Verma said, "It is heartening to note that SAIL's role in building the socio-economic prosperity of its peripheral regions is being recognised at the national level". The award committee consisted of an eminent jury comprising industry leaders, domain experts, economists and academicians.

The award specifically recognises three special initiatives taken by SAIL which have yielded immense benefits at the local level - Project Kishori at Rourkela, Project Swayamsiddha at Bhilai and Project Multi-Skilled Garment Technician Training at Salem.

Initiated in March 2010, Project Kishori was undertaken by SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant to bring about empowerment of adolescent girls and women in the peripheral villages of Rourkela in science & technology, and to enhance the ability of women to influence the direction of social change.

Project Swayamsiddha of Bhilai commenced in July 2007 with the objective of capacity building and financial literacy of underprivileged women through formation of self-help groups (SHGs). The scope of the project included awareness creation, formation of SHGs, imparting of skill, installation of unit with basic infrastructural support from SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant, forward and backward linkages for the unit, followed by gradual withdrawal and handing over the project to SHG. Under both the projects, women were trained in skills in different occupations such as food processing, mushroom cultivation, food adulteration test, vermi composting, soil testing, land and water management, artificial jewellery making, handicrafts, stitching, box making, candle making, e-learning, and basic adolescent health and woman's rights. Besides, SAIL Bhilai Steel Plant also introduced an all-expenses-paid adoption scheme for tribal girls from naxal affected Baster region to train them in B.Sc. Nursing course in a reputed institute at Bhilai. So far 10 girls have been adopted under the scheme.

The Multi-Skilled Garment Technician Training Project of SAIL's Salem Steel Plant started in March 2010 empowered women by training them in tailoring. At first level, training was imparted to village women and girls in basic skill development and garment making. At the next level, 105 rural women were enrolled in a professional course and provided training in industrial garment making and surface ornamentation.

Guided by the CSR motto of 'making a meaningful difference in people's lives', SAIL has established 53 Primary Health Centres, 7 Reproductive and Child Health Centres, 18 Hospitals and 7 Super-Specialty Hospitals providing specialised healthcare to almost 31 million people. The company has also opened over 139 schools in the steel townships that provide modern education to about 63,000 children. Besides adopting and providing free education and facilities to tribal children, SAIL is supporting over 254 schools. While an ITI has been started at Gua Mines in Jharkhand, the process for setting up an ITI at Jagdishpur in UP has been initiated.

Train services to be cancelled due to rail roko

Daily Pioneer reports

Due to the proposed Rail Roko agitation at Bamur on Friday, train services in the Angul-Sambalpur railway sections will be disrupted. As a result, some trains will be cancelled, regulated and short-terminated on Friday.

However, the rail roko is not related to railway workings, an ECoR release said on Thursday.

The trains to be cancelled are 18303/18304 Sambalpur-Puri-Sambalpur Intercity Express and 18105/18106 Rourkela-Puri-Rourkela Intercity Express.

The 12893 Bhubaneswar-Balangir Intercity Express will be short-terminated at Angul and will return as 12894 Balangir-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express from Angul to Bhubaneswar. The services of 12893/12894 Bhubaneswar-Balangir-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will be cancelled between Angul and Balangir.

RSP registers highest Hot Metal and Crude Steel production

IBNlive reports

Rourkela (Odisha), Jan 3 (PTI) Blazing a trail of success, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) registered the best ever Hot Metal and Crude Steel production in the month of December 2011, official sources said. The Steel plant produced 2,08,012 tons of Hot Metal and 1,96,027 tons of Crude Steel during the month which are the best ever figures for any month since inception, they said. During the month the Blast Furnaces made 7,376 tons of Hot metal on December 20 thereby creating a new record for any single day, and quickly broke it on December 25 by producing 7,388 tons of Hot Metal. Similarly the highest ever production of Crude Steel for any single day of 7,326 tons was registered on December 20. More than 100 percent APP (Annual Production Plan) was fulfilled in the production of Sinter, Hot Metal, Crude Steel, Plate Mill Plates, HR Coil for Sale and HR Plates. The performance on the Techno-economics front too was equally impressive. Best ever Coke Rate of 523 kg per Ton of Hot Metal was recorded during the month, while Specific Energy Consumption of 6.76 Giga Calorie per ton of Crude Steel was also the lowest ever. This superb achievement in December bolstered the performance of the Plant in the first three Quarters of the current fiscal. During April-December the Steel Plant registered a growth of 1.7 per cent in the production of Saleable Steel over the corresponding period last year. In the production of various Value added products like Plate Mill plates, HR Plates, ERW Pipes, Galvanized Sheets and ET Plates, growth of 3.1 per cent, 3.9 per cent, 20.3 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 34.6 per cent was recorded respectively over the corresponding period of last year. In 2011, for the sixth consecutive year Rourkela Steel Plant surpassed the 2 Million tonne mark in the production of Hot Metal and Crude Steel for any Calendar year. The highest ever production of saleable steel of 2.05 MT was also recorded for any calendar year in the year just gone by.