Corporates pin hope on Naveen's fourth term to spur growth

Tata Sons chairman, JSPL, Posco India chiefs among those who call on CM

Barely a day after being sworn in as Odisha's chief minister for the fourth consecutive term, Naveen Patnaik has pulled some of the top corporate honchos to his corridor.

Without losing time, some of the industry bigwigs like Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) chairman, Naveen Jindal, Posco India deputy managing director, Ho-Chan Ryu and Subhrakant Panda, managing director of state based Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA) called on Patnaik at his office in the secretariat here today.

Patnaik's growing clout and charisma in the state that enabled him win a massive electoral mandate is viewed by industry leaders as favourable for industrial growth. Industry captains are pinning hopes on his fourth term to rev up growth.

“I had come here to congratulate chief minister Naveen Patnaik who has come back for the fourth time with a very good majority. I believe that there will be development under his reign”, said JSPL chairman Naveen Jindal after meeting Patnaik.

IMFA managing director Subhrakant Panda said, “We look forward to development in Odisha under a stable leadership.”

Tata Sons chairman and Posco India's deputy managing director chose to stay tight lipped on their meeting with the chief minister.

It may be noted that despite being the preferred choice of investors, drawing investments of over Rs 14 lakh crore, Odisha was struggling to see many big ticket projects getting grounded. The row over land acquisition and scores of mines going off operations on stricter regulatory environment has weaned investor confidence and slowed industrial growth.

Miffed with delays in land acquisition, law and order problems and uncertainty in securing raw material linkages, world's biggest steel maker ArcelorMittal aborted its 12 million tonne greenfield steel project in the state.

Posco India that also planned a steel mill of 12 million tonne, has suffered delay of more than nine years since the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2005. Though the land for the first phase work of the project has been acquired, Posco is is yet to get mining rights over Khandadhar iron ore deposits, considered crucial for establishment of the steel plant.