BHUBANESWAR: The High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA), chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on Wednesday approved 27 major industrial projects, including data centres, artificial intelligence and lab-grown diamond facilities, involving a cumulative investment of Rs 2.47 lakh crore.
All the projects, when grounded, could lead to the creation of 50,162 jobs in the state, the government said.
The IT, ITeS and data-centre segment accounted for nearly Rs 1.43 lakh crore of the approvals. High Density Datacentre Ltd proposed the largest investment of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in an integrated data centre in Khurda, while HCL Technologies will set up an AI-optimised data centre with an investment of Rs 14,257 crore.
Similarly, Sentraforge AI has proposed to invest Rs 22,634 crore in an AI data centre and global capability centre in Puri. RKD Construction will invest another Rs 1,500 crore in a data centre in Cuttack.
Five lab-grown diamond projects entail an investment of Rs 10,680 crore. The investors include Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond Private Limited, Greenlab Diamonds LLP, Neorganic Diamonds Private Limited, Nouveau Diamonds LLP and Supreme Green Diamonds Private Limited. All the projects are planned in Khurda and Ganjam.
The power and energy sector projects at Rs 54,288 crore include NLC India’s proposed 3,200 MW thermal power plant in Deogarh at an investment of Rs 34,764 crore and a 1,080 MW plant in Angul for Rs 11,604 crore.
Two pumped-storage projects by BEKEM Infra Projects Private Limited in Rayagada district and Sri Avantika Contractor (I) Limited in Koraput district will entail investments of Rs 7,920 crore.Steel remains a major pillar, with Rungta Mines proposing a Rs 9,000 crore expansion in Sundargarh and Shakambhari Ispat and Power a Rs 5,000 crore integrated steel plant.
The HLCA approvals also include a Rs 2,078 crore silicon carbide wafer and gallium nitride facility by SiCSem, a Rs 1,050 crore battery energy-storage assembly plant by Aare Solar in Nuapada district, and green-energy equipment and advanced manufacturing projects by Larsen & Toubro involving an investment of Rs 5,000 crore in Ganjam district. L&T also proposed to establish an integrated advanced fabrication and manufacturing complex involving an investment of Rs 2,100 crore and a shipbuilding and ship-repair complex with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in Ganjam district.
The committee approved Adani Foundation’s proposed 1,000-bed multi-super-speciality hospital in Khurda with an investment of Rs 2,150 crore, while Tata Steel will invest Rs 3,329 crore in a 7 MTPA iron-ore grinding unit and slurry pipeline in Jajpur district.
“Our focus is not only on attracting investment, but also on creating quality employment, building future-ready infrastructure and ensuring that the benefits of industrialisation reach different regions of the state,” Majhi said.