Berhampur to free National Highway 217 of hoardings

BERHAMPUR: The National Highway 217 passing through Berhampur may soon be free of hoardings. The district administration has ordered officials concerned to remove the hoardings from either side of the 12-km stretch of NH passing through the town. "We have asked the officers of the NH, police, revenue and Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pull out the hoardings from either sides of the NH 217 for the free movement of the vehicles," said Ganjam collector Krishan Kumar. The big hoardings, which illegally mushroomed along the footpaths, have been causing a lot of traffic problems in the town with residents urging the district administration to solve the problem for quite some time. The issue was discussed at a meeting on the development of Berhampur town held here on Thursday evening. The meeting, presided over by the district collector, was attended by officials of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Berhampur Development Authority (BDA), besides MLAs from Berhampur and Gopalpur. The district collector also asked BDA officials to conduct a survey to identify open spaces in town and to rid them of encroachment. Some of the open spaces can be utilized for parking vehicles and some of them would be developed as green-belt with plantation and parks, the collector said. Around 150 open plots in the town, reserved by the BDA in different places, have vanished due to the encroachments, he pointed out. The administration also asked the BDA to crack down on buildings which diverted their open or parking spaces for other purposes. The violators would be punished, the collector warned.

Source: Times of India

Astha International to establish integrated township project near Berhampur

Astha International Limited, one of India's leading direct selling companies based out of Surat (Gujarat), would invest Rs 5000 crore on a slew of business ventures in Orissa by the end of 2012. The investment which is to be raised through a mix of debt and internal accruals as well as from its 4.5 lakh odd distributors across the country, will be made on developing an integrated township project called 'Astha City' near Berhampur city, a star hotel in Puri and a textile mill in Bhubaneswar. Besides, Astha International would set up a dairy production unit, a multiplex and a hyper mall in the city. The company has opened an office in the city and this would serve as the zonal office for the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

Together, all these projects will generate direct employment for over 10,000 people in the state. All these projects are expected to be commissioned by the end of 2012.

Addressing media persons here, Chandra Singh Chauhan, chairman and managing director, Astha International Limited said, “We have lined up an investment of Rs 5000 crore for Orissa by the end of 2012. The company would first begin with the integrated township project for which it has already identified around 200 acres of land near Berhampur.”

The company is betting big on the Orissa market which currently accounts for about 50 per cent of its overall revenues. Astha International which has operations in 12 states of the country, clocked a revenue of Rs 300 crore in the last fiscal. Out of 4.5 lakh distributors of the company, 1.5 lakh are based out of Orissa. Astha International, which has more than 10,000 products in 26 different segments, also plans to float a bank called Astha Bank by 2011-12. “We have already got the license of the Reserve Bank of India for starting banking operations and our bank will commence operations from 2011-12”, Chauhan claimed.

Source: The Business Standard