Summit soars high, bags proposals worth Rs 1.45L-cr

BHUBANESWAR: "Today, Odisha has been growing at 8% per annum, higher than the national average. Under chief minister Shri Naveen Patnaikji's able leadership, Odisha is fast becoming an ideal investment destination," said Mukesh Ambani. Coming from the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, these words ought to be music to Naveen who wooed investors at the inaugural plenary session of the second edition of the Make in Odisha conclave, here on Monday. And in further testimony to Naveen's leadership, Ambani added, "Odisha is fast becoming an ideal investment destination."
The Reliance Industries chairman was not alone in highlighting the Naveen government's work, as one after the other the industry captains spoke glowingly about Odisha's growing financial clout.

"If India has to become a $10 trillion economy by 2030, Odisha has to play a very important role. Odisha is one of the three states, besides Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, which could become a trillion dollar economy," JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal said. "Countries such as US and China, which are $10 trillion economy, have three trillion dollar states each," he added, laying down the marker for the state's growth.

Odisha's current size of the economy is estimated to be around $70 billion. The state's economic survey for the 2017-18 fiscal pegs the economic growth at 7.14 per cent, higher than the national average of 6.5.

On the day the government received more than Rs 1.45 lakh crore in investment intent. To put this into perspective, the total investment proposals received during the 2016 Make in Odisha conclave was around Rs 2 lakh crore.