Economically Poor, Rich in Resources Orissa Tenders Offer Huge Opportunities for Business

Ninth largest in terms of area and eleventh largest in terms of population, Odisha that was earlier known as Orissa is rich in natural resources, minerals and forestry but is still poor economically. However, of late there is rapid industrialization and many big commercial houses are coming over to invest in the state where they expect rich benefits. Orissa tenders; especially those originating from the upcoming industrial sectors, offer huge opportunities for the bidders.


Predominance of Free Tenders

With the aim of industrialization and for attracting industrial houses from abroad, Orissa has been following the policy of free tenders where everyone can bid and contest for winning them. Latest industrial policy of 2007 makes it clear that the state wishes to encourage foreign investors and will provide many relaxations so that they will consider investing in the state beneficial. That is why there is almost a predominance of free tenders in the tender market in the state.


Main Sources of Tenders

Main sources of Orissa tenders are as follows –

• Agriculture and allied sectors as nearly 70% of the people in the state are still dependent on the predominantly agrarian state;
• Industrial and allied sectors with many industrial houses coming up in the state with their projects;
• Forest and allied sectors as the state is very rich in forestry and forest products;
• Construction and real estate sectors with rapid growing urbanization in the state and growth of road communication;
• Telecom and Information Technology sector where the state has made rapid strides of late;
• Education sector with numerous educational institutions cropping up;
• Railways with many new railway lines coming up; and
• Irrigation sector that is one of the major requirements for agriculture.

Change in Trends

In the past most of the Orissa tenders originated in the public sector and at best from the public sector undertakings like the NALCO, MCL, NTPC, Paradip Ports, Rourkela Steel Plant, different Dam projects including Hirakud, Mandira, Rengali, Machchkumd, and Indravati projects, works, rural development, and water resources departments. Some free tenders were also generated by the Housing and Urban Development department and its subsidiary units like Housing Board, different development authorities, municipalities and notified area councils. With major influx of private organizations and rapid growth of many indigenous commercial centers, the equation has changed quite a bit and at least half of the Orissa tenders now originate from the private sectors unlike in the past.


Sector Wise Tender Sources

If one goes by the sector wise Orissa tenders sources then the result would be as follows.

• Tenders floated by iron and steel industries like Xindal, Monet, Vedanta, Aditya, Bhoosan, Visa, and others;
• Tenders floated by Aluminum industries like Nalco, Aditya Alumina, Utkal Alumina, and others;
• Tenders floated in power generation and distribution sectors by NTPC, CESU, NESCO, WESCO, SOUTCO, VISA, and others;
• Construction tenders floated in the real estate industries by government, private organizations, and individual builders;
• Tenders for construction, improvement, and maintenance of buildings, roads, bridges, railway lines, electric lines, telecommunication lines, pipe lines, and others;
• Forest related tenders;
• Tenders in the agricultural sectors;
• Irrigation works related tenders floated by Water Resources Department;
• Tenders by local self governments like Panchayats, municipalities, Panchayat samittes, DRDAs, ITDAs and others.

There are multiple other sources but aspirants for major Orissa tenders including the free tenders could do well to grab opportunities offered by these sectors.


In fact; the opportunities are huge.

E Procurement and Tenders Opportunities in Orissa

Orissa is both an agriculture and industrial state and both these sectors play an imperative role in the economy of the state. Along with traditional system of economy, modern infrastructural facilities and technology also has major role in enhancing the economy. Well connected roads and upgraded rail network with flourishing telecommunication and modern microwave systems are also integrated to boost the overall development of the state. Major developments in every sector are giving rise to more business that in turn requires transparency.  To achieve this, Government of Orissa took initiative in 2006 by developing and installing an online method of getting business and tendering, called e procurement.  With this the whole system of tendering became more apparent. E procurement website contains work of 6 Government departments and 7 other corporations containing the work of more than 20 lakhs tenders. Till March 2010 the number of total Orissa tenders published were 11,988.

If we look at the major economy driven sector in state, then it is still agriculture as 76% of the population in the state is engaged in farming or related industries. Orissa is the largest producer of rice. It produces 10th of the total country’s rice production. Besides this jute, oil seeds, coconut, maize, sesame are extensively grown in Orissa. But water shortage is the major setback to the agriculture sector.  Owing to this, Government is coming up with many new projects to overcome this problem. Water Resources department issues various tenders for new and ongoing projects. You can find all these latest tenders on the website of e procurement.

Fertilizer, which is linked to agriculture is the sector that is growing copiously. To support this growth there are four major fertilizer plants in Orissa. These are located at Rourkela in Sundergarh District, one near Kalunga, one at Talchar district Dhenkanal district and one at Baragarh. All these operate to produce different kinds of fertilizers.

In addition to agriculture and its allied industries Orissa is also a mineral rich state. Aluminum, iron, bauxite ore and steel are chiefly found here. Orissa is also rich in ferro-alloys.  Out of total bauxite ore availability in India, half is found in Orissa. Therefore Orissa tenders related to all these industries and their different segments cannot be ruled out. Every industry from medium, cottage to large scale comes out with its projects and get the job done through tenders.

This state also accounts for about 10% of the total steel production in India.  Recently many memorandums by the steel industry giants have been signed with the Government.  Arcellor-Mittal , world’s biggest steel producer has signed a memorandum with Government of setting up 12 MT integrated steel project at Patna with the total investment of Rs 40,000 crores. Then POSCO (Pohang Steel Company, the 5th largest steel producer across the world has also signed a MoU stating to set up 12 MT of steel plant at Paradeep. It will invest Rs 51,0000 crores in this project. Also many such developments have been undertaken through different projects by the Tata Steel, Vedanta Resources Plc, Essar Steel and Jindal Stainless Ltd in different parts of Orissa.

Within the sea of mineral industry, other sectors like biotechnology, forestry, handloom, paper and information technology are also booming. Big companies related to biotechnology are setting up their plants in the state owing to great biodiversity found here. The state is on the brink of coming out as a Biotech hub of the country with biotechnology parks. With developments at such a massive level every kind of Orissa tender will be invited for this project.

In addition to these major developing sectors and sources of Orissa tenders, there are other avenues like energy, textile, cement, ancillary, petrochemical, food processing and auto that are very profitable and part of state’s economy. Such as, about 8876 projects are going on in food and allied industries, 1771 projects are forest and wood based, 3217 are textile projects and 1599 rubber and plastic projects.

So it can be concluded that Orissa state is full of every kind of industry and growing profusely in each sector with new technology like e procurement, streamlined decisions and industry friendly policies.