Work in Tata’s Kalinganagar project to begin next month

September 23rd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - With 14 greenfield projects -- accounting for a combined investment of Rs.200,653 crore -- reduced to being non-starters following land acquisition problems, the Orissa government has come down heavily on the promoter-companies. "If the immediate hinterland is not developed where the unit is proposed to be set up, there is bound be social problems in that area," said state agriculture minister Damodar Rout at a seminar Tuesday.

September 22nd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Tata Steel, which has proposed to set up a Rs.21,000-crore plant in Orissa's Kalinganagar, Tuesday said the land acquisition process for the project would be completed soon and work would start by December. "We hope that the land issues will be resolved soon.

September 8th, 2009 RAIPUR - The state-owned National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC), India's largest iron ore producer and exporter, will begin construction of a Rs.17,000-crore integrated steel project in Chhattisgarh by the year-end, according to Chief Minister Raman Singh. The plant, with an annual capacity of three million tonnes, will come up over 995 acres in the Nagarnar area in Bastar district, 300 km south of state capital Raipur.

June 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - Decks have been cleared for the 4,000-MW ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Chhattisgarh as the central government has finally approved the project, ending months-long controversy. The government, which had earlier selected Chhattisgarh as one of the five states for setting up UMPPs, reportedly rejected the project last August as the state government stuck to its demand for 50 percent of power at "invariable cost" from the project.

May 19th, 2009 KOLKATA - Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is game to talk to the Tatas if they want to speak to her on setting up the Nano plant in Singur, but said the auto major will have to return 400 acres of land acquired from farmers for the project. 'If the Tatas want to speak to us on Nano, I will talk.

April 10th, 2009 KOLKATA - Despite the present global economic slowdown, the country's largest steel producer Tata Steel expects 4-5 percent growth in domestic demand in 2009-10, a top company official said here Friday. 'Impact of global recession is much less in India.

April 1st, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal may have lost a chance to nurture world's least expensive car but there is a possibility of the project coming back to its original site Singrur if the makers Tata Motors decide so, a top official said here Wednesday. Principal Secretary (Industry) Sabyasachi Sen's comment followed news reports quoting him as saying that the Nano 'will definitely be made in West Bengal as the low-cost car needs at least four to five plants'.

March 24th, 2009 SINGUR - A blanket of grief enveloped this rural hamlet as global auto major Tata Motors rolled out world's cheapest car Nano from its stable Monday in Mumbai. A section of locals chose not to see the live telecast of the Nano launch.

March 24th, 2009 KOLKATA - Pillorying the opposition for its 'most destructive' agitation that forced Tata's Nano project out of West Bengal, the state government Monday said the launch of the small car in far-off Mumbai was an 'unfortunate day' for the state. Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress-led agitation had forced the project out, said she couldn't care less.

February 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - Steel major Tata Steel will not focus on any acquisition 'for the time being', a top company official said here Friday. 'We will go slow on acquisition plans.

February 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - Construction work at the Nayachar Island chemical hub project in West Bengal is likely to begin before the Lok Sabha polls, state Industry Minister Nirupam Sen said Friday. But the Trinamool Congress was quick to oppose the project, saying it would harm the coastal environment.

February 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - Construction work at the Nayachar Island chemical hub project in West Bengal is likely to begin before the coming Lok Sabha polls this year, state Industry Minister Nirupam Sen said Friday. 'We've already sent a request to the central government seeking permission to start the project before the Lok Sabha elections.

February 3rd, 2009 LOHANDIGUDA - Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh says the Tatas will get all his support to set up a $2-billion new steel unit in the state given the benefits it will bring to one of India's most backward areas, even as the project is facing rough weather over acquisition of farmland. Tata Steel had signed an agreement in June 2005 with the state government to set up the project in Bastar district, one of the country's most impoverished areas, with an annual capacity of five million tonnes at a cost of Rs.10,000 crore (Rs.100 billion).

February 2nd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Bharat Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned oil company Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), will invest Rs.21.31 billion (Rs.2,131 crore) in a bio-diesel project in Uttar Pradesh, a senior official said. The project envisages production of diesel from oil extracted from the jatropha plant, a proven source of alternative fuel.

January 28th, 2009 RAIPUR - GMR Energy will begin construction work on its ambitious, albeit contentious, 1,200 MW Chhattisgarh power project by September, a top company official said Thursday. 'The company will begin construction work by September and we are confident about completing the land acquisition within three-four months,' GMR Energy chief executive Raaj Kumar told newsmen here.