Press Trust of India
Mumbai, Feb 14: Orissa witnessed slew of investment commitment from top business houses of the country Sunday as it showcased its investment friendly policies in the ongoing ‘Make in India’ event here. Tata Steel SEZ Sunday said it plans to invest about Rs 2,000-2,500 crore for development of infrastructure at Gopalpur in Orissa in the near term. “We have already spent Rs 1,000 crore to set up a 55,000 TPA high carbon ferro chrome plant and development of infrastructure. Going forward we will invest Rs 2,000 -2,500 crore for the development of further infrastructure in the SEZ,” Tata Steel Managing director T V Narendran told reporters on the sidelines of Make in India conference here. The SEZ, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Steel, has received clearance from the state government for setting up an industrial park.
“We got nearly 3,000 acres of land and Tata Steel is already (an) investor in the said unit by setting up ferro chrome plant, which is expected to be commissioned in the near future,” Narendran said. This is the first time that the Tata group is coming up with a Special Economic Zone (SEX). UK-based Meggitt recently decided to produce defence vehicles at Gopalpur of the state. Defence equipment makers will also be a big focus for the SEZ, Arun Misra, Managing Director, Tata Steel Special Economic Zone, said adding that more companies in defence sector are expected to come following the government initiative to encourage manufacturing as part Make in India campaign.
The company is in discussions with investors in China and some South-East Asian countries have evinced interest in investing in the SEZ, Mishra added. According to him the industrial park will start putting up factory sheds in 3-4 months period and clearance for setting up unit will be given within 15 days period. The Gopalpur Industrial Park is being developed by Tata Steel to facilitate industrial development of the region and it will primarily attract investments in steel and allied downstream industries, engineering, chemicals and other emerging sectors, besides generating substantial employment opportunities.
ITC to invest Rs 800 cr in state for hotel, food park
Diversified group ITC is looking to invest Rs 800 crore in Orissa over the next few years to set up a hotel property and a food processing park in the state, a top official said Sunday. “We are planning to invest Rs 800 crore in Orissa for a hotel and a food processing park industry,” ITC Chairman and Managing Director Y C Deveshwar told PTI on the sidelines of the Make in India Week here. He said the hotel property will come up in Bhubaneswar, while the food processing park details are being worked out. Nearly, Rs 630 crore will be invested in the food processing park and the rest of the money will be invested in the hotel, he added. Apart from these two investments, the company is also looking at investments in the agro forestry side in Orissa, Deveshwar said. “Till now we were testing the waters and getting our plans ready. Now it is time to start,” Deveshwar said, when asked about its existing investments in the eastern state. Apart from the investments in Orissa, Deveshwar said the plan of investing Rs 25,000 crore across verticals over five years is also progressing with work on 20 projects being on and 16 more being planned.
No-3
L&T may get nod for 3 mt aluminium plant
Engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Sunday said it is likely to get the final clearance from the Orissa government for setting up 3 mtpa aluminium plant in Rayagada district in the next 2-3 months, a top company official said. The company is planning to set up a 3 mtpa green field integrated aluminium refinery in the state with an estimated investment of Rs 12,000 crore. “We had submitted the proposal to the (Orissa) government and we hope we will get the last mile clearance from it in the next 2-3 months,” company’s senior executive vice-president (power, minerals and metals) Shailendra Roy, said here. He further said once the final approval is in place, the company will start with the process of land acquisition, designing. “We will start the process of preparing detailed plans as well as land acquisition. The investments of Rs 12,000 crore will be made in phases,” Roy added.
