BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said that despite the economy-crippling Covid-19 pandemic, Odisha has attracted investment of over `1 lakh crore across multiple sectors this year. Highlighting Odisha’s industrial ecosystem and the continuous growth over the last two decades, Naveen said, the State is set to achieve its cherished goal of becoming a world class destination.
Addressing a special session on the theme ‘Aspiring Odisha for Inspired India’ during the 93rd annual general meeting of FICCI on a virtual platform, the Chief Minister said Odisha is fast emerging as a manufacturing hub of eastern India. The State has been recognised as an industry destination of choice over the years and was ranked number one in terms of attracting investments during April-September 2019. “I am happy to note that the investor sentiment towards Odisha is extremely encouraging and it is poised to continue this leadership position,” he stated.
He reiterated the State’s focus on grounding of the investments. In the recent past, projects have been launched in diverse sectors ranging from healthcare, renewable energy, downstream to steel and aluminium, food processing and information technology, he said. Specifying focus sectors, Naveen said the State is working towards further value addition in major industrial regions such as Angul and Jharsuguda for aluminium and Kalinganagar for steel. Besides, Paradip is also being developed as the hub for chemicals and petrochemical industries.
Odisha attracted `1 lakh cr investment amid pandemic, says Naveen
The Chief Minister said the State has developed a dedicated land bank with over one lakh acre of land available on the GIS based platform for easy site selection by the industries. As part of the government’s initiative to reduce regulatory burden on industries, new end-to-end online systems for over 30 government-to-business services have been developed by various departments. To further ensure that the service delivery is prompt, specific timeline for services has also been introduced under the State’s Right to Public Services Act.
“The transformational initiatives under 5T charter and ‘Mo Sarkar’ have played a major role in creating a conducive business environment in State by inculcating professionalism and behavioural change in government agencies,” he said. The Chief Minister thanked FICCI for being the National Industry Partner for the third edition of the ‘Make in Odisha’ conclave and requested it to nominate dedicated sectoral teams to work with the respective departments of the government in priority sectors such as food processing, chemical, metal and metal downstream, textile, tourism and IT.
President FICCI and joint managing director of Apollo Hospitals, Sangita Reddy along with industry leaders like managing director of JK Paper Limited Harsh Pati Singhania and managing director of Hindustan Sanitaryware and Industries Limited Sandip Somany shared their experiences about robust industrial facilitation in Odisha. President-elect of FICCI Uday Shankar was present.