Aditya Birla to invest Rs 80,000 cr in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, May 22: The Aditya Birla Group (ABG) will invest Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000 crore in Orissa in the coming years, Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla announced here today after meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat.

Mr Birla, who met the Chief Minister to apprise him of the progress of various ongoing projects in Orissa, told newspersons that the state had emerged as an important destination for investment. "It is expected that we will invest Rs 75,000 to 80,000 crore in the telecom, cement and aluminum sectors in the next few years," he said. The Birla Group has planned to invest Rs 1,500 crore in the telecom sector only in the coming years in the state.

The Aditya Birla Group, he said, would launch its retail business in Orissa in the next six months. He said the company's plan to develop a port at Chudamani in Bhadrak district was in the initial stage. ''We are pursing it and hope something would happen soon,'' the Birla Group Chairman said.

Mr Birla said issues related to the various projects were discussed with the Chief Minister, adding that several projects in Orissa were progressing well.

The Chief Minister, he said, was very happy over the progress of the projects. He said the company was committed to the development work, including ITI and health centres, close to the project site.

He said the group was facing certain problems in implementing the projects and hoped that the problems would be sorted out soon.

Replying to a question, he said the Aditya Birla Group had taken over the Utkal Alumina in Kasipur block of Rayagada district from the Alcan four years back.

The company had already rehabilitated the displaced people as per the Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy of the state government.

UNI