Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday chose to market his state by putting forth his vision for the state in the presence of a galaxy of luminaries from the corporate world.
Patnaik, while inaugurating 'Make in Odisha Conclave-2018' at Janata Maidan here, highlighted the success of first 'Make in Odisha Conclave-2016' which attracted 124 investment intents worth more over Rs two lakh crore, and created employment opportunities for over one lakh people. "About two-thirds of these projects are at various stages of implementation," he said.
"I am delighted to welcome our friends, the captains of business and industry from across India and the globe, who have come all the way to Odisha and join us in 'Make in Odisha-2018' conclave. We are also glad to have Japan, as our partner country for this second edition of Make in Odisha conclave," he added.
The Chief Minister further stated that under the 'Odisha Industrial Development Plan: Vision 2025,' the state government targets to attract investments worth Rs 2,50,000 crore and the creation of 30 lakh job opportunities in six identified focus sectors by 2025.
"Targeting port-led development, we have planned a chain of ports along the East Coast Economic Corridor. Apart from Paradip and Dhamra, we are developing deep-water ports at Subarnarekha and Gopalpur, a riverine port on Mahanadi river and a chain of 12 other non-major ports. We have launched the Skilled-in-Odisha Mission to build an iconic global brand," Patnaik said.
"Odisha has one of the most progressive start-up policies. During the last 18 months, 310 start-ups have been registered and 40 of whom have already been provided with assistance. We aim to be among the top three start-up hubs in the country by supporting at least 1,000 start-ups by 2020. Odisha also offers enormous investment opportunities in areas of hospitality, sports, and entertainment," he added.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by a number of top honchos of Indian industrial conglomerates including Reliance Industries' chairman Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources, Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran and so on.
Also among the attendees were a host of top government officials including T K Chand, the chairman of National Aluminum Company Limited (NALCO), Anil Kumar, chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rajnish Kumar, chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), Ananta Das, Odisha's Minister for Industries and the state's Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi. Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu was among the top delegates from several countries attending the conclave.
Odisha Chief Secretary Padhi said, "Thanks to the relentless works done by this government over the last few years, Odisha has emerged as a preferred investment destination not only in India but also across the world. We have the availability of raw materials, uninterrupted power supply, skilled workforce, among many other facilities." He invited industrialists to explore these opportunities.
Sanjeev Chopra, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, said: "We are proud of what Odisha has achieved over the past few years in terms of development through our sustained efforts. Our top focus has been grounding of projects, ensuring industries or organizations who have given their consent or intent to invest in Odisha receive all the required support in terms of clearances and implementation."
Speaking at the summit, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani said, "Today Odisha is growing at 8 per cent per annum, more than the national average growth rate under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Reliance Jio is a committed partner in 'Make in Odisha' vision and has already invested Rs 6,000 crore in the state. At this moment, I proudly announce an additional investment of Rs 3,000 crore in the state from Reliance Jio." The five-day event will conclude on November 15.
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