Archive: October 30, 2022

Odisha is Pocket Friendly Tourist Destination: Official

Bhubaneswar: A senior official of Odisha describes Odisha as a pocket-friendly tourist destination having quality frastructure and diversified product portfolio consisting of forest, sea, wildlife, tribal, hills, etc. Principal Secretary of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha Surendra Kumar has rated Odisha amongst top states having quality roads and connectivity. He said that our district roads are even far better than major roads of UP and Bihar.

Talking to a session organized on the second day of Odisha Travel Bazaar(OTB) 2022, he said that, “Odisha has many things to offer to tourists. In some parameters, we are far ahead of others. Our people are nice and hospitable. Our roads are very good. The most important aspect of this state is that it is very pocket friendly. You don’t need to think much about budget.”
On this occasion, Director-Tourism Shri Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav said that, “Two boat clubs operational in the state and infrastructure is being added to those. Two beach front promenades at Ramchandi and Tampara Lake is already operational. Tamara Lake is gaining great importance for people coming from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as tourist destinations. Our plan is to add 24 cottages which are to be managed by reputed private operators. We are also promoting investment in the tourism sector. In the last four years, we have cleared 76 projects worth more than Rs 2700 crore which will create 3000 direct and 10,000 indirect employment in the state. 3000 local entrepreneurship is also being promoted through these projects.

Talking to foreign tour operators, co-chairman of FICCI Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Committee Shri J K Mohanty discussed the rich Buddhist culture that exists in Odisha and the influence of Buddhism on emperor Ashok. Comparing Odisha with other states, he said that people who are going to Rajasthan are only seen palaces and deserts, but in Odisha, they will get a chance to stay in lavish royal palaces and can visit forests and see wildlife animals. People who are going to Agra only see the Taj Mahal, but in Odisha, they can see the iconic Konark Temple and many beautiful temples spread across the state.

3-day fourth Odisha Travel Bazaar 2022 is organized by the Department of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha, and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at Bhubaneswar.

Smt Nirupama Biswal, Director, Gayatridevi Group, Shri Lelin Mohanty, Chairman, Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), Hockey India President Shri Dillip Tirkey and Joint Director-Tourism, Govt. of Odisha Biswajit Routray also spoke at the event.

Odisha and Gotipua cultural shows are also organized in the evening.

On the second day of the event, a B2B meeting between the Tourism Fraternity of Odisha (Sellers) with Domestic Tour Operators (DTOs) and Foreign Tour Operators (FTOs) and also B2G meetings with investors and Airlines are also organized. FAM tours to destinations of the state like Bhubaneswar, Konark, Puri, Chilika, Dhauli, Bhitarkanika, and Lalitgiri are also planned. Sellers are participated and exhibit their products in the exhibition.

Nagarnar Steel Plant Commissions Coke Oven Battery No.1

Nagarnar, 30th October 2022: NMDC’s Nagarnar Steel Plant inched closer to its commissioning today when Shri Somnath Nandi, Director Technical, NMDC commissioned Coke Battery No.1 in the presence of Shri. K Praveen Kumar, ED Incharge, Nagarnar Steel Plant and other senior officials. The first batch of coke was discharged this afternoon paving the way for the sequential commissioning of subsequent key units.

Nagarnar Steel Plant being a greenfield integrated steel plant, several major units need to be commissioned sequentially so that their interdependence can be established smoothly. Battery No. 2 is due for commissioning in the next few days and the process will eventually culminate in the commissioning of the Hot Strip Mill and Thin Slab Caster in the coming months.

Nagarnar Steel Plant aims to produce 2.89 million tonnes of high-quality HR Coils, Plates and Sheets annually, using state-of-the-art technology and achieving the highest level of energy efficiency. Shri Sumit Deb, CMD, NMDC appreciating the collective effort described the development as “an important day in the history of Nagarnar Steel Plant and a significant milestone in commissioning of 3 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant”. He exhorted the Collective to, “put all-around sincere efforts as a team to achieve the final milestone of commissioning the Plant”.

Commenting on the achievement, Shri Somnath Nandi, Director Technical, NMDC said, “This is the first major step towards commissioning of the steel plant. Today’s development inspires confidence that we will soon fulfil the dream of a steel plant in Bastar.”

Mr. Praveen Kumar, ED Incharge, Nagarnar Steel Plant highlighted that these eco-friendly coke oven batteries will produce coking coal without releasing any toxic fumes. He referred to today’s commission as ‘a validation of the team’s commitment’ and expressed confidence that the steel plant commissioning will also follow soon hereafter.\

The annual metallurgical coke production capacity of Nagarnar Steel Plant’s Coke Oven Complex is 1.76 million tonnes, when fully operational. Constructed at a cost of Rs.1978 crore, the Project executed by a consortium comprising of BEC (Bhilai), M/s Giprokoks (GPK) of Ukraine, M/s CUI and M/s Concord.

The Coke Oven Complex consists of 2 batteries of which Battery No. 1 was commissioned yesterday. Each battery has 67 ovens that are 7 metre tall and a Coke Dry Cooling Plants (CDCP) which will ensure dry quenching of coke using
nitrogen. This effectively protects against pollution and also helps in utilising the heat to generate power. When fully functional, Nagarnar Steel Plant has the capability to generate in-house 80MW of power of its total requirement of
about 296 MW.

By-Product Plant also Commissioned

By-product plant, a critical unit that is intrinsically linked to Coke Oven, was also commissioned. This is an absolute prerequisite for starting a coke oven battery because all toxic elements produced during the coke-making process are captured, treated and commercialized by the By-product Plant. This unit effectively aids pollution-free coke production by extracting Tar, Napthalene, Sulphur and Ammonia as by-products. M/s Hutni of Czechoslovakia is the
technology provider.