Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday Odisha was ready for the next level of industrial development in the post Covid-19 scenario.
Holding a review meeting of state and central government officials through video link, Pradhan said Odisha had taken remarkable initiatives for making the state an investment destination.
“The successful management of cyclone has opened new avenues for investment. The state is ready for the next level of industrial development,” he said and advised the central government and the state departments to work in tandem over the ongoing and upcoming proposals through different sectoral meetings.
Issues relating to the higher level of industrialisation, both in the MSME and large investment sectors, was emphasized at the meeting.
The proposal for facilitating FDI in focus sectors, participation of Odisha in all industry promotion initiatives and inclusion of the Odisha economic corridor under the Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) was also taken up.
“We can assure hassle-free business eco-system to investors along with expeditious grounding of projects. The state has set higher growth trajectories for development of industrial infrastructure. Sectoral industrial parks with delineated land bank are in ‘ready to move’ condition. We need to develop more infrastructure and industrial townships around the industrial clusters,” said Odisha Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy.
Outlining the competitive advantage of Odisha as investment destination, Industry Secretary Hemant Sharma said along with strategic coastal location, major ports and mineral deposit, state had developed industry-ready land bank comprising 505 sq kms in different locations.
“Being a power surplus state with 17,600 MW production, Odisha assures quality power supply to investors. There is also natural gas pipeline network across the state. The single-widow clearance system with robust online ‘Go Swift’ portal ensures timely delivery of support services to investors. The state also has abundance of skilled manpower,” Sharma said.
He also briefed the policy frameworks for promotion of industries in sectors, like mining and metals, petro-chemicals, chemicals and plastics, textiles and apparel, IT, ITes and electronics manufacturing food processing and tourism.
