Odisha will highlight its competitive advantages before the global investor community in the upcoming Make in Odisha Conclave with an aim to increase the growth of manufacturing sector. The Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 will be held in Bhubaneswar from November 11 to 15. The government is also expected to come up with policies on bio-technology, Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM), food processing, healthcare investment, textiles, tourism and women empowerment at the event.
According to Sanjeev Chopra, principal secretary of Odisha industries department, Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 is the flagship biennial business event of the state government. The inaugural edition of Make in Odisha Conclave had been organised in 2016 to showcase the manufacturing prowess of the state and the investment potential in various sectors. It was an overwhelming success with announcement of investment intent to the tune of Rs 2.03 lakh crores.
The state government has also demonstrated strong commitment to deliver projects on ground which is reflected in the fact that, out of these investment received, close to 65 per cent projects are in various stages of approval and implementation. Chopra added, after the resounding success of first event in 2016, the state will be organising the second edition of the marque event to showcase the policy and regulatory environment, investment opportunities across focus sectors and the manufacturing prowess of the state. It will be a celebration over five days presenting Odisha, its potential and achievements to the world. It will also be a platform to exchange ideas and share knowledge. The conclave will have sector specific seminars across food processing, smart city, logistics and infrastructure, tourism, ESDM, manufacturing, aerospace and defence apart from engaging events.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had reviewed the preparedness for the event where in he said Odisha, for the first time, is becoming one of the most preferred investment destinations in the country and the thrust is to bring more diversified industries to provide higher employment opportunities to the people. Expressing happiness over various departments' initiative to organise sector specific seminars to showcase business ecosystem, the chief minister has asked all departments to plan and benchmark each event to global standards. Japan has agreed to partner the upcoming conclave. A team led by state's Industry Minister Ananta Das visited Japan and China to present roadshows for the purpose. Meanwhile,in the run-up to the conclave, the state government organised investors' meetings at Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi, where chief minister and other top functionaries of the state government had interacted with captains of Indian Inc.
Presenting the state's potential chief minister said, Odisha's natural strength lies in being a mineral rich state. During the last 18 years of his government, the state has focused on enhancing the production levels of key minerals and value added products. There has been a significant increase in the metal output and today, Odisha is home to major aluminium and steel companies of the country. Enhancing and strengthening the infrastructure has been a priority of the government. Accordingly, the state's port capacity has been increased ten times to 190 million. Similarly, power generation has increased more than threefold and the road network has increased by over 50 per cent. As per the chief minister, “a major focus area of my government has been to provide a transparent ecosystem for the industries.” The meetings with investors also highlighted the strategic advantages of Odisha such as the low cost of doing business, incentives for investors, dedicated sector specific clusters and over 1,20,000 acres of land bank available for industries.
ASSOCHAM has ranked Odisha as the No.1 state in the country in terms of investment implementation rate and the state is consistently ranked among the top 3 states in terms of live manufacturing investments. Odisha has registered a GSDP growth rate of 7.94 per cent in 2016-17 surpassing the national growth rate of 7.1 per cent. In line with the theme of Make in Odisha Conclave 2018, a video has been launched on social media named 'Odisha: The ultimate investment destination' by the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL). Sanjeev Chopra said, the idea behind the video was to creatively portray key strengths of Odisha as a preferred destination for manufacturing investments. It builds on the 'I AM ODISHA' campaign by succinctly capturing the economic development of the state over the past two decades.
The state government will also make available all policy, cost of doing business and infrastructure related information through a single user friendly portal 'Invest Odisha'. The website, which was launched recently, helps the investors to compare the competitiveness of Odisha with other states as well as countries to enable them to take informed investment decisions. Last month, talking to investors at Delhi, chief minister highlighted his government's thrust on delivering projects on ground. He said, “during the last nine months we have successfully inaugurated or conducted groundbreaking ceremony for 50 projects worth investment of more than Rs 17,000 crore having employment opportunity for 21,000 people. This would not have been possible without using the mantra of three Ts—Teamwork, Technology and Transparency.” In fact, the Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 is trying to showcase this spirit in real sense.
