Industry leaders in Orissa have given a thumbs-up to the resounding victory recorded by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the recently concluded Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state. The comeback of the BJD to power in Orissa with more than a two-third majority would lend stability to the state’s political arena and also boost industrialisation, said the industry captains.
“The BJD always had a pro-active approach towards industrialisation and the party’s come back to power in Orissa with a thumping majority has reinforced our belief that the state is going to surge ahead in industrialisation. CII -Orissa feels that the new government under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik would take steps to expedite the progress of industrial projects”, RK Jena, vice-chairman, CII-Orissa told Business Standard.
Asked if CII-Orissa would approach the new government with its specific set of suggestions, he said, “The Orissa State Council of CII would meet next month to reach a consensus on the issues that we need to place before the new government. Thereafter, CII-Orissa would make a detailed presentation before the newly formed government.”
He pointed out that the new government needs to focus on development of downstream and ancillary industries as the state had attracted many large industrial projects in sectors like steel and aluminium.
Asked if the new government needed to amend the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) Policy in the wake of large scale protests over land acquisition for the mega projects, Jena replied, “The Orissa government’s R&R policy is among the best in the country. What is needed is the implementation of this policy in right earnest.”
IT players in the state have also hailed the victory of the BJD stating that the new government would come out with a new ICT (information and communication technology) policy which will help in the buoyant growth of the sector.
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Bijoy K Sahoo, president, Confederation of Information Technology Enterprises (CITE)-Orissa said, “The erstwhile BJD-BJP government took a host of initiatives for the growth of the IT sector in the state. The IT players in the state expect the new government to come out with a new ICT policy incorporating the best IT practices of states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.”
The local IT entrepreneurs expect the new government to invite them for their suggestions and also felt that all their demands relating to the problems of the IT SMEs (small and medium enterprises) would be fulfilled, he added.
Niranjan Mohanty, president, Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) said, the new government needs to diversify its basket of industrial growth and the focus should be on the development of sectors like textiles, jewellery and engineering goods instead of going all out on the promotion of mineral based industries in the state.
Mohanty pointed out that the new government needs to ensure that all the private players who have entered into a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Orissa government need to constitute a Plant Level Consultative Committee to boost growth of ancillary and downstream industries. For the development of the SMEs in the state, the new government needs to ensure that there is an effective monitoring on the implementation of the measures contained in the new MSME Development Policy, he added.
WHAT THEY SAID
“The BJD always had a pro-active approach towards industrialisation and the party’s come back to power in Orissa with a thumping majority has reinforced our belief that the state is going to surge ahead in industrialisation”-
RK Jena, vice-chairman, CII-Orissa
“The erstwhile BJD-BJP government took a host of initiatives for the growth of the IT sector in the state. The IT players in the state expect the new government to come out with a new ICT policy incorporating the best IT practices of states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.”-
Bijoy K Sahoo, president, CITE