om e 's Ali a - Land ss De elo en - Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, India Office

Process of Land Alienation
New Projects Need 1,31,000 Acres in Orissa
Even as the influx of new projects continues in Orissa, the state is facing the herculean task
of allotting land, which almost compares with the area envisaged for residential purposes
in the master plan for 67 towns. The estimated land sought by different industries including
Reliance Energy Limited (REL), Posco-India Pvt. Ltd. and Vedanta Resources, would exceed
1,31,000 acres.
The land earmarked for residential area in the master plan of 67 towns including Bhubaneswar,
Cuttack, Sambalpur, Paradip and Jharsuguda, has been estimated at around 1,34,000 acres.
Different companies have so far signed 42 MoUs for setting up steel projects, 13 MoUs for
thermal power plants and four for alumina complexes. The land required for steel projects
alone will make a whopping figure with 40,300 acres land. Power projects with 17,593
acres and alumina complexes with 12,062 acres of land follow this.
Bhushan Steel and Strips Limited (BSSL) had sought additional 3,500 acres of land adjacent
to its 2,000 acres in Dhenkanal district. Anil Ambani-led REL at Hirma had proposed a
12,000-mw thermal power plant, near Jharsuguda town and sought 15,000 acres to
put it up. It would be the world’s largest coal-fired power project at a single location. If
this 12,000 mw power project materialises, it would create another town of the size of
Jharsuguda, for which the Directorate of Town Planning (DTP), Orissa, had earmarked
17,767 acres of land.
Similarly, Posco needs 4,004 acres near Paradip town to set up what could be India’s
largest steel project. However, the residential area for this port town was envisaged at
around 5,500 acres. Kalinga Nagar, dubbed as the next steel-manufacturing hub of the
country where six steel projects are coming up, would overshadow the nearest Jajpur Road
town in the coming days. The DTP had earmarked 1,082 acres for residential purpose and
5,527 acres for commercial, industrial, transport, park and open spaces and other land
use for the town. However, the project area would alone require 7,565 acres of land.
If the townships of all the projects come up, the proposed land use would touch an
astronomical figure.
Districts likely to witness pressure on land are Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda,
Sundargarh, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Angul. Demand is likely to rise further when mining
work starts in Keonjhar, Sundargarh Jharsuguda and Angul districts. Land stress will get
critical when all the infrastructure is erected to support the ‘unexpected’ industrialisation
that will take place in next six to seven years. (PTI 2006)
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