The ‘Make in Odisha‘ conclave, which began on November 30, has ended, with the Odisha government claiming that it has received an investment intent worth over Rs 2 lakh crores in variously diversified sectors. Major commitments have apparently come in from leading industrial conglomerates, with most names from the metals and minerals industry.
According to a report by the International Business Times, India Edition, the Odisha state government issued a communiqu, stating 82 firms including two overseas companies have shown interest in investing in the state. The bulk of the investments, based and aroundRs 97,911 crores, have come from based metal-producing companies. Names such as Vedanta, Jindal and Tata Steel, who are already present in the state, have confirmed that they plan to invest again in the mineral and the ore-rich state of Odisha. Expansion of existing units as also on the cards.
Several high profile exits in recent years, however, has led industry watchers to remain skeptical over the claims, and have maintained reservations over the status of industrial implementations in the state. Arcelor Mittal, the global steel giant, had called off its proposed Rs 50,000 crore greenfield steel project in Odisha, owing to land acquisitionissues and complications over compensations.South Korean steel firm Posco also stated it would not take steps to re-institute a proposed integrated steel plant in the Jagatsinghpur district due to protests by locals over alleged land grabbing. Besides, Indian major Vedanta is said to be experiencing supply-line issues at its factories in Odisha over lack of timely supplies. Overall, the heavy industry scenario in Odisha is not too persuasive.
In other news, power and infrastructure sectors saw a host of investment commitments,w ith around Rs 38,500 crore of investments promised. The infrastructure sector and the power sector saw investment intent of around Rs 30,000 crore from various firms. Fertilizers, refinery, petrochemicals and plastics industry sectors attracted proposals worth Rs 27,000 crore with food processing units seeing proposals worth Rs 2,101 crore. The IT sector looked gloomy, witnessing proposals worth only Rs 1,500 crore with. The healthcare sector saw commitments worth Rs 1,400 crore too.
Drawn from the ‘Vision 2025: Odisha Industrial Development Plan’, the ‘Make in Odisha’ conclave tried to highlight Odisha as an ultimate investment destination and diversify investment opportunities across key sectors like heavy metal, food processing, including seafood, chemicals, petrochemicals and plastics, textiles and apparel, defence, electronics, start-ups and tourism.
