By Nageshwar Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, December 1, 2022: It is déjà vu for Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the state government successfully xchanging 21 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and 46 Investment Intent Forms (IIF) worth Rs 585,742.26 crore.
.
Needless to say, the Biju Janata Dal government has successfully made an impressive business pitch to Indian and global investors to Make in Odisha and ‘Join the Juggernaut’-the word derived from the mighty Lord Jagannath, his awe-inspiring power and symbolic of Odisha’s growth trajectory. Accompanied by 54 corporate Sarathi’s (charioteers), Naveen on Thursday declared that the state would be transformed into a trillion dollar economy in the near future.

“Odisha is destined to become a trillion-dollar economy in near future. We will emerge as the gateway to East and South East Asia. I invite you to come and invest in a New Odisha,” Navgeen said assuring to make the investors comfortable in the state. “Our investor-friendly initiatives and transformatory governance has put us on a journey of progress and prosperity. I invite each one of you to come join us on this journey,” he added.

The state, which was once considered as laggard state, has ensured political stability for the last 22 years. Besides, the state promises cheapest land, labour and logistics; robust growth figures and progressive policies to provide a conducive business environment to the investors
.
The impact of the consistent campaign is quite visible as the day one of the Make in Odisha Conclave 2022, of the third Edition investor summit organized by the state government, witnessed the presence of global leaders, 54 industry captains, 12,000 individual registrations, 212 exhibitors, participants from 11 countries and several industry leaders at the 2 plenary sessions and 8 sessions on different sectors.

Make in Odisha Conclave aims to provide a platform for industry participation and discuss growth and development opportunities for key sectors like agro & food processing, tourism, IT & ITEs, mining & metallurgy, chemicals & petrochemicals, and Green Energy.

The state also launched the Industrial Policy Resolution 2022 which focusses on making Odisha the destination of choice for industrial enterprises across the country and abroad.

Interestingly, the state carved out a niche for itself as the conclave has the presence of five financial institutions viz BSE, NSE, SBI, SIDBI and IFC of the World Bank Group. Two MoUs were also signed with BSE and NSE, and Govt of Odisha for assisting the MSMEs of the state to get listed on the MSME exchange of BSE.

In a joint venture with Nippon Steel Lakshmi Niwas Mittal owned ArcelorMittal will be setting up a 24 million tonnes plant in Odisha. Mittal endorsed the speed of governance in Odisha and congratulated Odisha for creating an environment of doing business with ease in record time.

Karan Adani, CEO, Adani Ports promised an investment of over Rs. 60,000 crore in the coming 10 years. The group is planning for 35 berths and a 5 MT LNG terminal at Dhamra Port, an alumina refinery and an iron ore project which will create thousands of jobs in the state.

JSW Group Chairman, Sajjan Jindal announced that the group will invest about Rs1 lakh crore more in Odisha for setting up a steel plant in Paradip and silicon metal plant to produce solar panels. He mentioned that the Group has already invested ₹60,000 crore in the state. ‘With current mineral revenue of Rs. 10,000 – Rs.40,000 crore, Odisha is soon to become a trillion dollar economy,’ Jindal stated.

Anil Agarwal, Chairman & Founder, Vedanta Resources along with Naveen Patnaik, virtually laid the foundation stone of Vedanta Aluminium Park, stated to be India’s largest metal park. He appreciated the government’s resilient approach towards business growth and mentioned the Group’s investment of over ₹1 lakh crore while creating direct and indirect livelihood for 5 lakhs people in the state.