Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 14, 2018: Odisha has bagged investment proposals worth Rs 4,19,574 lakh crore Make In Odisha conclave beating its own expectation of netting Rs 2.5-3 lakh crore worth of investment plans.

The amount is more than double of what the state had received during first edition of the biennial conclave in 2016 and around four times of the state’s annual budget of around Rs 1 lakh crore.

The petrochemical sector has unexpectedly bloated the total value of investment intentions received at the Make in Odisha conclave to be concluded on Thursday.

Speaking at the valedictory session, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that the state has received 183 proposals in all, valued at Rs 4.19 lakh crore trillion in 15 diversified areas at the event, All these proposals have the potential to create about 60 lakh jobs.

Interestingly, the petrochemical sector’s share stood at Rs 1.35 lakh crore trillion spread over 37 proposals only second to the mining and mineral processing sector, which has long been the backbone of state’s industrial landscape. Mining and Mineral processing sector got 56 per cent of the whole investment promises, valued at Rs 2.36 lakh crore across 53 proposals creating job opportunities for 18 lakh persons.

HPL has so far invested Rs 10,000 crore in Bengal and has pledged to pump in Rs 20,000 crore more in the last two editions of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) held in Kolkata.

Odisha chief secretary AP Padhi said these are on proposal stage and the state government will engage with them. “Once they would submit formal proposals, we will be in a position to tell the exact location,” he said.

According to HPL sources, the company has been looking for a suitable land in a mineral-rich coastal location and no formal offer has been made so far.