While the small and medium scale industrial units in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Paradip bore the brunt of the cyclone, the large-scale units in the coastal belt, including Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd, Paradip Phosphates Ltd and Nilachal Ispat Nigam Ltd, have also been hit.

According to the Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) eastern region chapter, Dr Subrat Ray, all the units in operating condition, those about to be commissioned and PSUs in the coastal belt have suffered heavy physical damage.

Talking to this paper, Ray said though it was premature to make any assessment of the extent of damage, ``the setback in terms of infrastructure is about 20 years, as it took us more than two decades to provide road and rail communication, power and telecommunication to this industrial strip''.

Secretary of the Utkal Chamber ofCommerce and Industry Sashi Sekhar Samal estimated that the loss to small, medium and large-scale industries in the coastal belt was around Rs 500 crore. There are about 5,000 units ranging from cattle feed manufacturing units to massive iron and steel industries which have incurred losses, he noted.

While informing that the CII chapter had called a meeting of its members in this connection, Ray said the most important aspect is recuperation, which needs immediate attention.

He said the Government should declare a interest holiday for at least one year on loans from commercial banks and other financial institutions and set a target for repayment. Also, fresh working capital should be pumped into the affected units to enable them to be commissioned within 90 days.

He added that the state government could fix a ``revival period'' of three to six months during which incentives such as excise, sales and entry tax exemption could be provided. Further, insurance claims should be settled as soon as possible toprovide some sort of relief to the units and, at the same time, incentives should be provided to entrepreneurs for refurbishing and revitalising purposes. The assessment of loss of working capital should also be made quickly, he feels.

Paradip port loss put at Rs 80 crore

The Paradip Port - gradually limping back to normal - is estimated to have suffered a loss of over Rs 80 crore suffered a loss of over Rs 80 crore in the cyclone. A detailed report on the damage caused to the port was given today to the high-powered task force on Orissa by the Ministry of Surface Transport. The harbour has suffered the most damage in financial terms, estimated at around Rs 21 crore. This includes the breakwater, fenders, sea wall and security wall of the harbour. Port equipment like sinking of a survey launch and the conveyor belt have also been severely damaged.

However, one telephone line has been restored. Kamlesh Kumar, Director, Port Traffic said the operations had started in the port and as of now, therewere four ships docked there. ``That means 50 per cent occupancy as there are eight berths in the port,'' he pointed out. Port authorities were able to resume operations within three days of the cyclone, mainly because the channel had not been completely blocked.

Whatever blockage did happen, was caused by the sinking of fishing boats and sea trawlers: ``Had it been a ship which had sunk, it would have taken several days to clear the channel,'' the director explained.