CII keen to partner with state for global investors' meet

With various states vying to pull in investments by organising spell-binding investors' meets, the demand for holding such a meet in the state today reached crescendo with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) proposing organisation of such an event to showcase Odisha's potential.

"Considering the rich mineral resources, potential for growth and a stable government in the state, time has come for Odisha to showcase itself to attract investments from the rest of the country and abroad", said Anusman Das, Chairman , CII Odisha state council, at the inaugural ceremony of the CII Enterprise Odisha-2014.

The state should also plan for transforming Enterprise Odisha to an annual global investors meet in collaboration with CII, said Das, who is also the chairman-cum-managing director of Central PSU, National Aluminium Company (Nalco).

The industry body will soon approach the state government to organize the event. CII has been partnering with different state governments for organizing such investors' meet in their respective states.

"We have created dedicated forums like Vibrant Gujarat and also organising such meets in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh etc. We are keen to roll out similar event in Odisha in partnership with the government", said Viresh Oberoi, chairman, CII Eastern region.

In October, Madhya Pradesh organized Global Investors' Summit 2014 to pull in investments while Vibrant Gujarat is scheduled in January, 2015.

The CII proposed to set up state level investment promotion body to promote investments in Odisha, as a follow up to the Make in India sessions organized by the CII jointly with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and various state governments.

A concept note outlining the objective and purpose of the state level investment promotion body has been shared with the state government, Oberoi said. Besides, the industry body is keen to set up an IP and Technology facilitation centre for MSMEs (micro small and medium enterprises), Corporate Social Responsibility hub and a mining skill centre at Keonjhar in the state.

Speaking on the occasion chief minister, Naveen Patnaik said, "To sustain Odisha's industrial growth momentum, the state government is in the process of finalizing IPR (industrial policy resolution)-2014, SEZ (special economic zones) policy, Special Investment Region Act etc."

The state has attracted investments over $200 billion during the last decade. A majority of the investments has gone into the manufacturing sector, Patnaik added.

Industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra, industries secretary, Vishal Dev and Tata Steel managing director, TV Narendran also spoke on the occasion.