BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Investors’ Meet at Dubai, the first ever by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik outside the Indian soil, has drawn investment intents of more than Rs 21,000 crore. On Wednesday, head honchos of top companies of the Middle East interacted with the CM and evinced interest to invest in an array of sectors which could generate employment for 19,000 persons.
Addressing the meet, the Chief Minister said the state’s single window portal for investors, GO SWIFT has transformed the B2G interface with its user-friendly features which provide time-bound clearances for over 50 G2B services. Odisha is home to over 1,200 start-ups, many of which are in the technology space, he added.
The meet had presence of companies from minerals and metals processing, petrochemicals, chemicals, plastics, heavy industries, clean energy, food processing, electrical equipment and electronics manufacturing, logistics and warehousing, real estate and hospitality sectors.
Dubai-based Sobha Realty agreed to set up projects worth Rs 5,000 crore in the State to strengthen metals, metallurgy and hospital sectors. Similarly, Lulu International Shopping Malls Private Limited plans to set up shopping malls, hypermarkets, agri sourcing and logistics hub with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore. Kuwait based NBTC expressed intent to set up an ammonia urea plant with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore while Abu Dhabi-based hospitality company, Twenty14 Holdings has agreed to set up a 5-star hotel and wellness centre with an investment of Rs 500 crore.
Official sources said Arab India Spices LLC has plans for a pulse splitting unit with an investment of `50 crore. Abu Dhabi based firm Tabreed also expressed intent to invest Rs 1,000 crore to establish ICT campus in Bhubaneswar. DP World and Hindustan Ports Private Limited is also keen to launch projects related to ports, SEZ and ICD with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore. Besides, the Sharaf Group and Hind Terminals Private Limited intends to set up a logistics park with an investment of Rs 750 crore.
Naveen said the State Government’s 5T Initiative for development of industries and infrastructure has created an industry-led ecosystem of value addition, sustainable employment generation and revenue augmentation. Stating that the State has made good investments in setting up technical and professional institutes such as ITIs, polytechnics, engineering and management colleges, he said, 11 of India’s top 100 Industrial training institutes are in Odisha.
Naveen’s first overseas investors’meet gets Rs 21k crore proposals
With the assistance of Asian Development Bank and the Institute of Technical Education Services, Singapore, Odisha government recently established the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar to prepare the Odia workforce for modern and new age industry, he added.
Jointly organised by the State Government, FICCI and the Indian Embassy in UAE, the meet was attended by over 150 companies based out of the Middle East and North Africa region. FICCI vice president Subhrakant Panda said, Odisha’s transformation has been possible due to the CM’s visionary leadership and focus on attracting investment to accelerate development. Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra, Industry Secretary Hemant Sharma and 5T Secretray VK Pandian were present .at the meet.