Bhubaneswar: The Tata group is examining the proposal for the takeover of Nilachal Ispat Nigam Limited. This was announced by chairman of the group, Mr Ratan Tata earlier this week. 

Speaking to reporters after meeting chief minister Navin Patnaik, Mr Tata said discussions were on between officials of the state government and the company to decide modalities about the takeover of NINL, a public sector steel company promoted jointly by MMTC and the Orissa government. NINL has already installed a second-hand blast furnace bought from Italy and the work is almost completed. 

The Tata group, the chairman stated, was also looking at the prospect of investing in information technology, tourism, infrastructure and steel making in Orissa. Mr Tata, who was on an exploratory mission in the state, said the state had great potential to grow industrially. 

After his arrival in the city in the afternoon, Mr Tata visited the Infocity and Fourtune Tower, two major IT hubs built by the state government and enquired about the facilities available there. 

The visit by the Tata chairman, to Infocity and Fortune Tower has raised speculation about TCS opening a software development centre here. Two software giants - Infosys and Satyam - already have their development centres in the city and they plan to expand their facilities soon. Several ministers and senior government officials, who accompanied Mr Tata to Infocity and other places were also present during his talks with the chief minister in the state secretariat. 

Chief minister Mr Patnaik told reporters the state government had requested the house of Tatas to invest in the state in such sectors as power, tourism, IT and port building. 

The Tisco board has recently approved a proposal to develop a greenfield port at Dhamra in Orissa at a cost of Rs 1,000 crores and signed an agreement with L&T in this regard.