BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has proposed to expand the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) up to Balasore district, Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra informed at an event here on Saturday.
Speaking at 'Advantage Odisha' organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Mishra said the preliminary discussion has already started in this regard and the Government is in course of extending the VCIC, which is a key part of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), to Balasore.
"Many initiatives have been taken by the State Government to make an improvement in the ease of doing business index. Odisha is now the number one State in manufacturing sector. The Centre has proposed at least 25 per cent growth rate while at Odisha we have planned for 27 per cent growth, a bit ahead of the national figure with an proposed investment of `2.5 lakh crore by 2025," he said.
The Minister maintained that the Industries Department is working hard to ground `one lakh crore investment before the next 'Make in Odisha' conclave. Mentioning about the Vision Document-2025 which was published recently, he said the Government aims of becoming the manufacturing hub of South East Asia.
Principal Secretary of Industries Department Sanjeev Chopra said with the support of the industrial bodies, efforts are being made to change the perception on Odisha from a dormant State to an industrial-friendly State.
"The department is trying to remove physical contact between Government and the people to improve ease of doing business. We have launched a mobile app, 'Invest Odisha', for tracking the applications. Through single window, we had received 63 applications/proposals, of which 60 was cleared within an average time period of 20 days instead of 160 days," he said.
Principal Secretary of IT Department PK Jena said the incentives given to the industrial sector is better than many states. "The branding of Odisha has come out well after Make-in-Odisha Conclave and the companies are trying to be a part of Odisha's growth," he added.
Among others, CII's eastern region chairman TV Narendran, Odisha State Council Chairman Sanjay Pattnaik and Vice-Chairman TK Chand also spoke.