By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 11, 2016 : Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday met union finance minister Arun Jaitley at his residence in New Delhi and formally invited him to the ‘Make in Odisha’ conclave to be held here from November 30 to December 2 aimed at attracting large investments in manufacturing from domestic investors and major investors across the globe.

Patnaik invited Jaitley to attend the plenary session of the investors meet on December 1 as the Guest of Honour.

During the meeting with Jaitley, the chief minister said that the new Industrial Policy Resolution 2015 adopted by Odisha is aimed at making Odisha a manufacturing hub of the East and providing an enabling environment to the entrepreneurs to invest and set up businesses in the state.

Odisha’s new industrial development plan ‘Vision 2025’ projects an additional investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore and generate 10 lakh jobs by 2025.

During the meeting, Patnaik urged Jaitley to provide Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation from 2012-13 till the current fiscal. Besides, he sought Rs 566 crore compensation from Centre towards cancellation of the Talabira-I Coal block in the State. He also demanded the State’s share in Clean Energy cess from the Centre.

He appealed Jaitley to amend Article 276(2) of the Constitution to enhance upper ceiling of the Professional Tax to Rs 12,000 per annum as recommended by the 14th Finance Commission

Patnaik also highlighted that Mahanadi Coal Limited which extracts coal from Odisha is the largest contributor to the Clean Energy Cess on coal being collected by the Centre at the rate of Rs 400 per tonne and stated that there are compelling reasons for compensating the coal bearing states like Odisha suffering the brunt of negative externalities of coal mining and coal-based power plants from out of Clean Energy Cess Fund.

Jaitley assured to look into the issues early and indicated his willingness to attend the Plenary Session of Make in Odisha Conclave, an official statement said.