Make in Odisha: State govt plans to launch exclusive policy on handicrafts

Roadshows have been planned in Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru

Keeping to its thrust on textiles & apparel sectors, the Odisha government plans to launch an exclusive policy on handicrafts at its ensuing ‘Make in Odisha’ showpiece conclave on November 11-15.

The state government already has a textiles policy in place and the sector is listed as one of the six focus sectors in the Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR), 2015.

A dedicated session on textile & apparel sector is scheduled on November 13 as per the tentative itinerary prepared for the conclave. The theme of the session will be centred on apparel and technical textiles. The speakers for the plenary session are set to be drawn from leading apparel manufacturers like Raymond Ltd, Welspun Group, Arvind Ltd, Aditya Birla Fashions & Retail Pvt Ltd, Trident Group and Amrit Exports Pvt Ltd.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), the industry partner for the investment summit will coordinate with the companies for inviting speakers for the seminar. Also, Ficci will contact different machinery manufacturing companies related to apparel and technical textiles. An international guest speaker is planned to be roped in either from Ikea or Bangladesh Apparel Association. The onus will be on Ficci to coordinate with the industries department and Industrial Policy & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) for overall planning of the session.

Ahead of the ‘Make in Odisha’ summit, the state government is planning to organise more roadshows at the domestic level. In collaboration with Ficci, a roadshow is planned to be held in Delhi towards the end of this month. Two more roadshows are set to be organised in Chennai and Bengaluru in September.

Last month, a state delegation led by its industries minister Ananta Das staged overseas roadshows in Saudi Arabia, Italy and Germany. Companies across sectors like petrochemicals, textiles and aluminium downstream have dangled promise of virgin investments valued at around Rs 100 billion.

Among others, Riyadh-based SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals, is keen to invest Rs 50 billion on a petrochemical project in Odisha's coast. Though the location is not firmed up yet, the company is eyeing Tata Steel owned Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gopalpur on south Odisha coast. SABIC where the Saudi Arabia government owns 70 per cent equity and the rest shares traded on the exchange, has operations spanning 50 countries. With innovation hubs in five key geographies, the company boasts of a workforce pool of over 35,000 employees worldwide.

At the inaugural 'Make in Odisha' summit in December 2016, the state drew investment intents worth Rs 2.03 trillion. Investments rushed to the state across sectors with metals & mining being the highest grosser at Rs 970 billion. Nearly 60 per cent of the investments are in various stages of implementation or approval.