BHUBANESWAR: With inclusion of Odisha in the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), the State Government on Friday decided to prepare the Conceptual Development Plan (CDP) by March, 2017.
The 1700 km ECEC will be jointly implemented by the Centre, State Government and and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
At a high level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary AP Padhi with senior State officials and ADB team, it was decided that Industry Secretary and CMD of IDCO would be the nodal officers for the project and Industry Department would be the nodal agency. Padhi advised that perspective plan of the project should be compatible with Odisha Vision 2036 Document.
As India’s first coastal corridor, the ECEC will link Odisha with global industrial corridor and value chain. It would connect six major ports, three of country’s deepest draught ports as well as mineral-rich hinterland.
A presentation made by the ADB team suggested that the ECEC will boost industrial activities in automobiles, electronics, petro-chemicals, petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, naval shipyards, defence and space exploration. The project would have two basic dimensions - investment for infrastructure development and node-centric development.
The technical teams of ADB would make assessment of land requirement, clearance from coastal areas, floodline, forest and other restricted areas, connectivity with highways, rail network, proximity to ports and airports as well as availability of utilities like power and water.
Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan, Industry Secretary Sanjiv Chopra, Principal Secretary, Water Resources PK Jena and Energy Secretary Rajesh Kumar Varma were present.