Japan business meet: Odisha gets Rs 26k crore investment intents

BHUBANESWAR: A day after Nippon Steel Corporation announced plans to set up the world’s largest steel plant, Odisha on Wednesday received investment proposals worth over Rs 26,000 crore at a business summit in Tokyo. The investment intents were majorly received across green hydrogen and ammonia, green energy equipment manufacturing, IT, ITeS, logistics, metal ancillary, steel and metal downstream sectors.

The Odisha Business Meet Tokyo 2023 inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik saw the participation of over 200 leading companies in Japan and the Indo-Pacific region. Addressing the business leaders, Naveen said Odisha is one of the fastest-growing economies in India and has consistently grown above the national average in the last decade and a half. “We are fast emerging as a major industrial destination as our natural resource advantage, strategic location, skilled human resources, progressive policies and strong result-oriented governance provide a unique ecosystem for investors,” he said.

Odisha is becoming the fulcrum of trade and commerce in the Bay of Bengal region, Naveen said adding, the government has undertaken measures to welcome industries looking to cater to the untapped markets in Eastern and North-Eastern India as well as markets in ASEAN and East Asia region.

Some of the industry captains who met the CM included president and CEO of IHI Corporation Hiroki Kobayashi, president and CEO of Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc M Ishitani, director (Asia-Pacific) ThyssenKrupp Akita Sigeta and CMD of JGreen Power Pvt Ltd Hironobu Miyata. An MoU for collaboration in the skill development sector was signed between Nihon-Utkal (NITKAL) and IIIT, Bhubaneswar.

The business meet hosted by the state government in association with the Indian Embassy in Japan, FICCI and Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) also enabled trade and technology transfer discussions between Odisha business delegation and Japanese companies.

Naveen met several prominent industrialists one-on-one to discuss their plans for investments. He also interacted with the Odia diaspora comprising of professionals, entrepreneurs, researchers and students. The state government delegation held a meeting with the senior leadership of JICA and discussed various upcoming social-sector and infrastructure projects.

He also spoke about transforming Buddhist pilgrimage sites like Dhauli, Udaygiri, Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri and invited Japanese investors to visit Odisha and experience the change. Minister for Industries and MSME Pratap Keshari Deb said the Odisha government has taken a whole-of-government approach towards service delivery to citizens and businesses. He urged industry captains, associations and their members to explore Odisha as their next investment destination.