OPEN FOR BUSINESS

At a time when national economic statistics paint a grim picture of upended small businesses and massive unemployment, Orissa has shone a beacon of hope, lining up firm proposals for investment of over Rs 3 lakh crore.

- Romita Datta

These investments by a hundred-odd companies will create an estimated 110,000 new jobs. State industry secretary Hemant Sharma claims these figures were released only after the Naveen Patnaik government was convinced that the projects would materialise and not remain unfulfilled expressions of intent. “Investments worth Rs 3 lakh crore have been approved by the government’s single window clearance system and are at various stages of execution like land allotment, construction etc.,” says Sharma, brushing aside any scepticism.

In 2020-21, when the pandemic was raging and businesses were either shutting shop or going slow across the country, industries in Odisha contributed to 36 per cent of the state GVA (gross value added), continuing the growth pattern from 2019-20 when the sector grew by 3.6 per cent compared to 0.9 per cent for the country, according to Odisha government figures.

The state is blessed with rich mineral reserves, including 28 per cent of the national reserves of iron ore, coal (24 per cent), bauxite (59 per cent) and chromite (98 per cent). It has seen big-ticket investments by a number of corporate giants such as Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Bhushan Steel, Hindalco Industries and Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel. It is also strategically placed— a 480 km coastline, three operational ports at Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur, which together handled 153.9 million metric tonnes of cargo in 202021, a network of good motorable roads and good railway connectivity. Both Paradip and Dhamra ports are being expanded to handle 300 MMT of cargo, three times their current capacity.