New export policy for Odisha soon: CM

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik giving away ‘Best Exporter Award’ to National Aluminium Company in Bhubaneswar on Thursday

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said a new Odisha Export Policy, 2017, will be announced soon and the government is in the process of bringing all export-related organization under a single roof to ensure “ease of doing business”.

While inaugurating a workshop on ‘Export Strategy of Odisha’ here, Naveen said these steps will go a long way in enhancing value of exports from Odisha.

Highlighting the growth in the field of exports since 2011-02, the chief minister said the turnover, which was merely Rs 5063 crore in 2001-02, had increased 34 times to Rs 19082 crore in 2015-16. “It is heartening to note that because of collective efforts of our exporters, the value of exports between 2015-16 and 2016-17 has registered a phenomenal growth of 114 per cent from Rs 19,082 crore to Rs 40,872 crore,” he said.

He then congratulated all exporters, besides the award winners, for achieving this extraordinary feat. “While 19 exporters of the state are being awarded for outstanding performance, five MSME entrepreneurs are getting a subsidy of Rs 5.8 crore under Odisha Food Processing Policy,” he added.

Among others, MSME Minister Prafulla Samal and MSME Additional Chief Secretary L N Gupta were present.