Prof. Dr. P. K. Jena, Bhubaneswar, February 19, 2016 : Odisha is considered to be the leading state of India for possessing large quantities of various natural resources. The state is particularly endowed with major fractions of the mineral resources (27% coal, 26% iron ore, 65% bauxite, 31.7% manganese ore, 98.3% chromite, 95.1% nickel ore, 20.7% ilmenite and 76.67% graphite) of the country.

This apart, the state has vast areas of fertile land, a number of rivers and other wet lands, nearly 25% of the land covered with dense forests, 480 km of coastal line and annually about 300 days of bright sunshine. In addition, the state has a large number of skilled and semi skilled man power.

With all these resources in abundance, Odisha should have been the leading state of India for producing thermal, hydro and solar energy, various types of metals, alloys and chemicals and also it should have been one of the leading states in agricultural production and agro industries. But, socio economically the state is lagging behind most of the states of India.

The agriculture, industry and service sectors contribute about 15.4%, 33.4% and 51.2% respectively of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Odisha. In the state, the mining sector contributes about 7.4% of GSDP, the production of steel is only 10% of the total production in the country and the pct of irrigation provided to principal crops is only 28.3% while the all India average is 44.9%. Some of these figures indicate certain deficiencies in planning of projects and their implementation.

This calls for successful implementation of various programmes and projects for improving the socio economic condition of the people of Odisha by utilizing its vast and varied resources.

Planning of projects should be done scientifically keeping in view different aspects concerned.

Some programmes recently undertaken for providing sufficient water to farmers for growing crops and for drinking by constructing large number of bore wells and dug wells, should take into consideration the water availability in the ground. As it is not done, in summer most of the dug wells as well as bore wells are becoming dry and the objective of the programme is defeated. Therefore, the programme should have the component to develop the wet lands and harvest rain water in those with provision for recharging the aquifer in the region.

Projects due to improper execution, lack of monitoring and evaluation, do not give much benefit to the concerned communities.

It was planned to give various facilities to the displaced persons in a mining or an industrial area through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. But, due to the faulty implementation of these by the authorities in association with the concerned industries, the affected community gets at the end very little benefits. In the CSR programmes during planning and implementation, the beneficiaries should be fully involved.

Due to want of proper coordination among various Departments of the State Government dealing with land, forest, water, energy and finance, the industrialization is delayed.

In most cases of the small and agro industries, the entrepreneurs due to non availability of infrastructural facilities, finance, raw materials etc. get frustrated and as a result many projects have never materialized. Therefore, a ‘package deal’ system where permissions for all the facilities are given, should be adopted to motivate the entrepreneurs to take up the projects so that the industrialization can take place at a faster rate.

Long range programmes for development of various industries should be made keeping in view the resources available and the market for the products.

Though Odisha has large reserves of iron ore and non coking coal, the non coking coal cannot be used in iron making processs in the blast furnace. In view of this, during the last 30 years, a large number (about 120) of sponge iron plants (Direct Reduce Iron) have come up in private sector in the state. It is a golden opportunity for Odisha to produce large quantities of iron by this Direct Reduction process. But, due to want of raw materials (both high grade iron ore and non coking coal), most of the sponge iron plants have been closed down or are operating with very low capacity.

Similarly, because Odisha possesses nearly 65% of the total bauxite produced in the country, four majors aluminium industries namely Nalco, Vedanta Aluminium, Hindalco and Balco have come up. But due to non availability of bauxite, except Nalco other three aluminium industries are running with very low capacity.

High valued Metals and alloys industries based on certain strategic minerals available in the state should be developed instead of exporting those minerals.

The chromite reserve of the country is mostly concentrated in Odisha and is only 2.5% of the world reserve. The metal chromium produced from it, is an important one. Therefore, instead of exporting the mineral, it is better to produce chromium and its alloys and sale those with a price many more times than that of the mineral. The state similarly has got large reserves of ilmenite, the mineral for titanium metal; zirconia, the mineral for zirconium metal; vanadium bearing magnetite, the mineral for vanadium metal;, laterite ore, the mineral for nickel and cobalt metals. Therefore, the state should plan to produce these metals and their alloys. In this way the state will get good revenues and in addition, can generate a lot of employment opportunities.

In agricultural sector, due emphasis is needed on post harvest technology and agro industries.

On account of poor post harvest management, the losses in agricultural produce is very high. These losses are caused during storage, handling and transportation. It is reported that, the extent of losses can be brought down to about 50% of the existing level by adopting agro process technology and proper transport system and the rest by creating infrastructural facilities like grain storage structure, cold stores etc.

Small and medium scale agro industries should be identified in larger numbers in different Panchayats and necessary infrastructural facilities like energy, water and other services and finance should be provided. The rural youths should be encouraged and trained to take up these industries. This will help a large number of farmers and their family members to get employment opportunities and the rural families, in this way along with agriculture can be economically more sound. The influx of unemployed youths from rural to urban areas can also be minimized.

Further streamlining the resources management is needed.

The government claims that the state is surplus in energy resource. But the fact is that, the domestic sector, agricultural sector as well as industrial sector are experiencing the dearth of energy. Till today, a large number of villages are not having electricity and those who have are experiencing frequent power cut. This is the case also for the urban areas and the industries. It is suggested that, because of the availability of bright sunshine for about 300 days per year, the government should developed on a priority basis, on a massive scale the solar energy for domestic as well as agricultural purposes while utilizing the thermal and hydro power mostly for Industries.

Planning of programmes should be befitting to changing needs of the society and resource available.

Odisha is experiencing acute water shortage for irrigation. As paddy cultivation requires a large amount of water compared to potato, oil seeds and pulses, the farmers should be motivated to produce these crops particularly in dry areas. This would be more paying to the farmers. By producing these crops in large quantities the growing needs of these by the people of Odisha as well as the neighbouring states can be met.

In order to develop the socio economic condition of Odisha, the government has to give greater emphasis on scientific development of mineral mines, mineral based and agro based industries, development of solar energy and creation of more wet lands with provision for rain water harvesting. In addition, farmers should be motivated for producing more valued and less water consuming crops like pulses, oil seeds, potatoes etc.

The development of post harvest technology, storage facilities and agro industries in every Panchayat with adequate transport facilities is highly essential. In order to develop these facilities, an integrated programme should be taken up to train skilled and semi skilled technical personnel mostly involving the youth in rural as well as urban areas. In order to get the necessary man power and cooperation in different developmental programmes, the standard of education both in school and college levels has to be improved. In this endeavour, the experience and expertise of the retired persons in the areas of general and technical education wherever necessary, should be availed as the availability of teachers with good teaching ability is scarce at present in the state.

For making ‘Resource Rich Odisha’ a ‘Socio Economically Rich’ State, the project planning has to be done in a more scientific manner and executed properly with frequent monitoring and evaluation along with creating job opportunities in various industries and service facilities in an effective manner. Odisha can emerge as the richest state in the country by utilizing its vast and varied natural resources including the man power.

( Prof Dr P K Jena is the former Director General, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, India)