Bhubaneswar: Asserting that Odisha will soon become a trillion-dollar economy, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday invited business leaders to invest in the state and assured them of full support and incentives to launch projects across sectors.
“Odisha is destined to become a trillion-dollar economy in near future. We will emerge as the gateway to East and South East Asia. I invite you to come and invest in a New Odisha,” the Chief Minister said at the plenary session at Make In Odisha Conclave in Bhubaneswar.
“The state government will run the extra mile to make you comfortable in our state. We will walk along your side and make sure your dreams as an entrepreneur are realised,” he said addressing the third edition of the state’s flagship investment summit.
Emphasising that Odisha’s fiscal prudence and economic management has been appreciated across the country, Naveen said Odisha is one of the few states with adequate revenues to undertake large scale infrastructure projects. “Our investor-friendly initiatives and transformatory governance has put us on a journey of progress and prosperity”.
The mega event is being attended by corporate tycoons including Arcelor Mittal Executive Chairman L N Mittal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources Anil Agarwal, JSW Chairman Sajjan Jindal, and JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal. The Chief Minister had one-to-one meeting with several business leaders, including Mittal and Mittal.
Country partners in the Conclave – the Ambassadors of Japan and Norway, and the Consul General of Germany also joined the event.
Stressing that Odisha’s prosperity is interlinked with new investments, Naveen said the state offers better than the best. “Our new Industrial Policy provides the support and incentives which are beyond the best in the country. We are launching new policies in the sectors of Tourism, renewable energy, apparel and textile, food processing, exports and so on . We will continue to work with each one of you and understand the requirements of your sector and provide the best of support systems.”
Describing Odisha as a major force in the field of mining and mineral-based industries, the Chief Minister said the state has attracted major investments in steel and lluminum projects and will emerge as the global hub in these sectors by the turn of this decade.
“However, we are ambitious to develop Odisha in other sectors too. We are making huge capital investment in improving our transport infrastructure – expressways, railways, airports, sea ports,” he said, describing Odisha as a pioneer in electricity reforms and have successfully created the framework and investment towards providing quality affordable energy.
Odisha’s focus on creating quality education through high schools’ transformation, world class higher educational institutions, Skilled in Odisha program the World Skills Centre, providing quality affordable health care systems will enable social capital and support the industries with highly qualified human resources, said Naveen.
Noting that Odisha is fast emerging as a major investment destination, he said it is a progressive state with clear focus on transformation in all sectors. “Stable governance is the cornerstone of peace, prosperity and progress. We have an unprecedented mandate from the electorate due to our continued performance over the last two decades,” he said.
Stating that citizen centric governance model has set global benchmarks, Naveen said initiatives like Mo Sarkar and 5T charter give dignity and respect to our people.
“Our inclusive development agenda emphasises on education, health, skill development, agriculture, women’s empowerment, tribal development and so on. Mission Shakti comprising 70 lakh women is a unique empowerment initiative,” the CM said.
He said Odisha’s health assurance scheme BSKY is a milestone in the public health sector, while participatory governance ensures that gains are shared across all sections of the society. We have been able to reduce poverty by 50%, while doubling the farmers income over the last two decades.
