BJP Dubs CM Naveen’s Claim To Make Odisha Trillion-Dollar Economy Hollow, Calls For Double-Engine Govt

Bhubaneswar: Taking a dig at the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government over its performance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday claimed that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s promise of making Odisha a trillion-dollar economy as ridiculous is turning out to be hollow and misleading.

Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, state BJP spokesperson, Satyabrata Panda a latest report by a national rating agency India Ratings and Research (IRR) indicated that Odisha is not among the states that are likely to hit the mark by 2047.

Though the BJD government has set its ambition to achieve one trillion-dollar economy by 2030, the report of the India Ratings and Research says that eight states will have economies exceeding one trillion dollar each by 2046-47 financial year, he said.

If Odisha’s position is taken into consideration, the present Gross State Domestic Product of Odisha is 110 billion dollars, het BJP leader said, adding it looks unlikely that Odisha will be able to reach the one trillion-dollar economy even by 2047.

Stating that the average growth rate of the state in the last seven years is seven per cent, he said if this rate persists in the coming years, then we have to wait till 2070 to see our state becoming a trillion-dollar economy.

Despite being rich in mineral and water resources and a 480-kilometre-long coastline, Odisha is not in a position to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2047 only because of inefficiency of the BJD government and weak leadership of the CM, Panda claimed.

Noting that the CM had announced in the 2022 Make in Odisha conclave that the state would become a trillion-dollar economy in the near future, the BJP leader asked Naveen to explain to the people as to why the target cannot be achieved.

Alleging that Odisha is hit by growing unemployment with a fragile economy during the BJD rule, Panda said the regional party would be voted out of power in the upcoming elections as the state needs a double engine government of BJP for speedy growth and development.