By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 23, 2018: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced Japan as the ‘country partner’ for the biennial ‘investors’ meet in November here.

“The partnership will provide a new impetus to the relations between Odisha and Japan and open up varied sectors for collaboration. We also appreciate SBI (State Bank of India) coming onboard as the banking partner for the event,” Naveen announced at the ground-breaking and inauguration ceremony of several industrial projects worth Rs 2901 crore via video conferencing at the state secretariat here.
“The 15 industries for which ground-breaking / inauguration are being conducted today will provide employment for more than 3,000 people in the state,” he added.

The state government has been seeking participation of more foreign companies in the second Make in Odisha conclave like never before.

Among the major investment proposals, Naveen laid the foundation stone for the third integrated cement plant of OCL India Ltd, a unit of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd at Rajgangpur in Sundargarh, which will have an investment potential of around Rs 2000 crore.

The CM also inaugurated Rs 110 crore caustic soda manufacturing unit of Grasim Industries in Ganjam and a 10 mw solar power plant of Jyoti Solar Solutions, which has invested Rs 57.17 crore in Bolangir.
He also conducted the ground-breaking ceremony of 13 other projects which include OCL India, IFFCO, Jajpur Cement, Indo Nissin Foods, Hindustan Urban Infrastructure, Shree Malani Foams, Suguna Foods, Saizar Enterprise, MK Plast, Aradhana Plastic, Tidal Trading, Weaverbird Engineering Technology and Utkal Speciality.

The projects are in diverse sectors including food processing, cement and downstream industries in metals among others. OCL India will invest Rs 1994.98 crore for a cement manufacturing unit in Sundargarh district.

“My government has promulgated progressive policies and developed state-of-the-art infrastructure besides demonstrating commitment to deliver projects on ground, which is reflected in the fact that out of the investment intents received, close to 65 per cent projects are in various stages of approval and implementation,” said Patnaik.

Interestingly, Patnaik announced Japan’s consent to be the ‘country partner’ prior to visit of a state government delegation led by industries minister Ananta Das to Tokyo later this month to showcase state’s investment potential.

The delegation would attract investment in focus sectors such as food processing and seafood, chemicals, plastics and petrochemicals, ancillary and downstream industries in the metals sector, electronics manufacturing, textiles and apparel and tourism. The delegation would also visit China and South Korea to engage with the investors there.

The partnership between Japan and Odisha will be in diverse sectors including industry, tourism, culture, sports and heritage. Odisha will be the priority investment destination for the Japanese investors in India, according to the partnership.

A Japanese business delegation would also attend the investors’ meet scheduled from November 11 to 15 here.

TRL Krosaki, a subsidiary of Krosaki Harima Corporation operates its refractory supplies plant at Belpahar in Jharsuguda district while Indo-Nissin Foods, a unit of Nissin Foods and Mitsubishi Corporation produces instant noodles at its facility near Khordha.

The SBI as the ‘banking partner’ will introduce services to cater to the financial needs of large corporates, micro small and medium enterprise units and self-help groups, who are the main drivers of job creation in Odisha.

To attract foreign investors in the focus sectors, Odisha government had also organized investment roadshows in Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia in July this year and claimed to have received tremendous response.

After Mumbai, chief minister Naveen Patnaik would attend an investment roadshow in New Delhi on September 12.

Subsequent to the Make in Odisha Conclave 2016, the first ground-breaking ceremony was held in November 2017 for 15 manufacturing units with an investment of Rs. 11,690 crore and the scope to generate 8,187 jobs.