Odisha becoming manufacturing hub: CM

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday virtually performed the ground-breaking ceremony for 27 major industrial projects, which will bring a total investment of Rs 25,308 crore and generate 52,000 jobs. He asserted that Odisha was moving from “promise to performance, potential to prosperity”.

In his address to the industry leaders, Majhi said Odisha is consciously moving up the value chain from being recognised for its mineral wealth and primary industries to becoming a hub for high-value manufacturing and globally competitive products. The projects would come up in 12 districts — Angul, Rayagada, Jajpur, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Khurda, Puri, Bhadrak, Koraput, Jharsuguda and Ganjam. “Our industrialisation is inclusive as 27 of the 30 districts of the State now have industries,” he said. Majhi, who became the Chief Minister 15 months ago, claimed that his government, in the last 165 days, laid the foundation stone for 84 industries and attracted investment of Rs 5 lakh crore, of which Rs 2 lakh crore-investment has been materialised so far. He also claimed that employment opportunities have been created for 77,894 people, of whom 56,859 or 80 per cent are Odias.

“No one can raise fingers at the State government and say that Odia people are not getting employment in the industries being set up in the State,” he said. Majhi said Odisha’s new wave of industrialisation reflects a deliberate strategy to balance conventional mineral-based industries with new-age sectors, encourage fresh entrants alongside industry leaders, ensure revival of sick units and drive regional balance in industrialisation.

The sectors represented include renewable energy equipment, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, steel and advanced downstream industries. The flagship projects for which the Chief Minister performed the ceremony included SRF Ltd. (Gopalpur SEZ), Epsilon Ltd. (Jharsuguda), Bajrang Steel & Power Ltd. (Khurda), Sova Solar (Angul) and Greenply Industries (Koraput). “Odisha offers everything that an investor dreams of getting for establishing his project.