Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik at the ‘Make in Odhisha’ investors’ meet held in Chennai on Wednesday | ASHWIN PRASATH
CHENNAI: Around 250 investors participated in ‘Make in Odisha’ investors meet in the city on Wednesday. It was organised as a run-up to the second edition of Make in Odisha conclave that will be held from November 11 to 15 at Bhubaneswar.
The meet which was conducted jointly with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, focused on inviting business enterprises based in the State to invest in Odisha.
During the press meet, Patnaik said a Single Window for Investor Facilitation and Tracking portal which was launched in November 2017 received its 400th proposal from Tata Steel Processing and Distribution industries. He added that Odisha is gearing up to accommodate industrial growth without red-tape hindrance.
Around 65 per cent of proposals that we received from the previous edition of the conclave are at various stages of approval and implementation, said Sanjeev Chopra, Principal Secretary (Industries), Odisha. “Tata Steel had submitted their proposal through the portal last Friday and in a week’s time we have given all official clearance for the project. The portal sees to it that interface between investors and officials are kept to a bare minimum,” said Chopra.
The Odisha government has identified six focus sectors for industrial development, which include agriculture and food processing, chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles, downstream and ancillary production, tourism and auto and auto components. “The cost of production in Odisha is 20 per cent lower when compared to other States. Road connectivity in the State has been increased by 50 per cent,” said Aditya Prasad Padhi, Chief Secretary, Odisha.
Odisha has established four Investment Regions in four sectors located at Paradeep, Bhubaneswar, Kalinganagar, and Dhamra over the last 10 years, said Ananta Das, Odisha Industries Minister. “Odisha offers several advantages to investors such as rich mineral reserves, strategic coastal location with over 10,000km of highway network. Around 14 non-major ports will soon come up on the East Coast Economic Corridor. By 2030, we plan to convert 50 per cent of mineral production into downstream processed goods,” he said.
