Large investment projects in Odisha make substantial progress, Central team appreciate govt steps

Large investment projects have made significant progress in Odisha with a proactive resolution of the filed level issues, said the state government said on Wednesday.

The projects have been monitored under the Cabinet Committee Investment Project Monitoring Group (CCI PMG), the Government of India.

This was known from CCI PMG Meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra.

Special Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Amrit Lal Meena, Director DPIIT Arvind Pandey with senior officers of Central PMG participated in the joint review meeting wherein the project proponents presented ground-level issues for discussion, according to a statement from the Odisha government.

Examining various contours of the issues flagged by the project developers, Chief Secretary Mahapatra gave the necessary guidance for their resolution.

Mahapatra also set timelines for the implementation of different tasks relating to the resolved solutions. Concerned departments, respective district administration and project proponents were asked to adhere to the timelines without fail.

Special Secretary DPIIT Amrit Lal Meena said, "State government has taken proactive steps for quick implementation of the projects. Out of a total of 165 big-ticket projects being monitored through the CCI PMG portal, 1032 projects (around 80 per cent) are sailing smoothly because of the timely action of the state administration."

The field-level problems flagged by only 33 project developers have also been substantially resolved by State and district administration, he added.

Mahapatra said, "This joint exercise has been very helpful in expeditious implementation of the large scale infrastructural and investment projects."

The committee reviewed 33 projects from 8 sectors like railways, road and highways, oil and gas, agriculture, mines, communication, and cement, the statement said.

Railway Projects included Banaspani-Jakhapura doubling, Rourkela-Jharsuguda third line (102 km), Bhadrak-Nergundi third line, doubling of Hatia (Ranchi) Bondamunda line (159 km), 3rd and 4th lines between Budhapank-Salegaon (170 km), Vizianagaram-Titilagarh 3rd line (264.6 km), Smbalpur-Talcher doubling (174.11 km), Khurda-Bolangir new broad gauge link (289 km), Talcher-Bimlagarh new line, Angul-Sukhinda new line, Jharsuguda-Bilaspur fourth line (206 km), Jarpada-Budhapank with a flyover at Talcher road 3rd and 4th Line, Sambalpur-Titilagarh doubling, and Koraput-Singapur doubling.

Coal projects included coal mining projects of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited particularly, Bhubaneswari open cast, Kaniha open cast and Belpahar open cast mines.

The national highway projects included 4-laning of Talcher-Chandikhole, Singara-Binjhabahal, up-gradation of Cuttack-Angul section of NH-42 (New NH-55) to 4 lane, up-gradation of and 4- laning of Angul-Smbalpur section of NH-55, up-gradation of Six-laning of Bhadrak-Balasore section of NH-5 (New NH-16), up-gradation and six - laning of Chandikhole-Bhadrak section 0f NH-16, 6-aning of Tangi - Bhubaneswar section of NH 16, construction of the corridor between Angul-Balaram-Putagadia-Jarapada along with the link from Putagadia to Tentuloi, and Bondamunda-Jharsuguda-flyover connection for joining down line.

The reviewed projects in the Oil and gas sector included the Paradip Hyderabad product pipeline project (1212 kms) and the expansion of refinery-5th Stream.

Mines Projects Included Utkal- D & E, and Pottangi Bauxite Mines. The cement projects included Kotametta Limestone Block for captive consumption, and Dalmia DSP, a Unit of Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd.

The agriculture sector included integrated Anandpur Barrage projects; and, the Communication sector included the BharatNet project of the Ministry of Communications.

The issues relating to land alienation, removal of encroachment, forest clearance, wildlife clearance, construction of wildlife underpass, distribution of compensation award, compensatory afforestation, shifting of utilities etc were discussed and resolved in the meeting.

Mahapatra set timelines for field level implementation of the decisions taken in the meeting.

( With inputs from ANI )