On the second working day of the ‘Make In Odisha Conclave 2022’ on Friday, Odisha secured an investment commitment of over Rs. 1.70 lakh crore, taking the total business intent amount to Rs 8.90 lakh crore, so far.
The five-day biannual investor’s summit was inaugurated on Wednesday at the Janata Maidan ground in Bhubaneswar by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and, on the first working day, the state had bagged an investment intent of over Rs 7. 20 lakh crore.
Top officials of the Odisha government’s Industries department said on Friday that the investment commitment of Rs. 8.90 lakh crore has been made by 325 industrial houses which promises an employment generation capacity of nearly 7 lakh people.
The second working day’s discussions and proposals were focussed on sectors like Textiles, Petrochemicals, Plastic, Food Processing, Exports and Startup. New policies on several sectors, including the crucial Odisha Export Policy 2022, were unveiled during the day.
The new Export policy assumes special significance in the backdrop of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s assertions on Thursday that Odisha will become a gateway for the country’s trade to East and South East Asia soon. This, the CM had said obliquely, will propel Odisha into becoming a trillion dollar economy in the near future aided by the state’s prowess in steel and aluminium sectors.
Industries Minister Pratap Keshari Deb, almost justifying the Chief Minister’s statement, while unveiling the new Exports policy, said, “The policy provides a roadmap to transform Odisha into a major exporting hub of the country and achieve an export target of Rs 3.5 lakh Crore by 2026-27."
Several important delegates and sectoral experts took part in the series of panel discussions and spoke at the thematic sessions during the day.
