 "Rs 2.45 lakh cr investments take off in Odisha")
The state government has entered into MoUs with 92 players across sector like steel, power, aluminium, cement and auto components. Together, these MoU bound industrial units have committed investments of Rs 5.69 lakh crore. Of the 92 entities, 45 have commenced production either on partial or full scale.
Bulk of the investments have flown from the steel sector. With 48 MoUs, steel sector leads the pack of investors. As many as 33 steel units have already started partial or full scale production, investing around Rs 1.3 lakh crore, creating capacity of nearly 15 million tonne. Tata Steel, Bhushan Steel and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) have been the major investors.
In the power sector, independent power producers (IPPs) have invested around Rs 40,000 crore. The state government has inked MoUs with 28 IPPs, envisaging a total production capacity of around 37,500 Mw with proposed investment of over Rs one lakh crore. Three IPPs- Vedanta Group firm Sesa Sterlite, GMR Kamalanga and Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL) have begun commercial production.
Sesa Sterlite has fully commissioned its 2400 Mw (4x600) power project at Bhurkamunda near Jharsuguda. The company has invested Rs 8038 crore on the plant. GMR Kamalanga has commissioned four 350 Mw units of its proposed 1400 Mw power plant at Kamalanga in Dhenkanal district.
JITPL has put on stream the first 600 Mw unit of its proposed 1800 Mw plant, at Derang near Angul. Another IPP- Ind Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd has synchronised its first unit of 350 Mw capacity at Sahajbahal near Jharsuguda.
Since the opening up of reforms in the country, Odisha has emerged as the preferred destination for investors, drawing investments worth Rs 15 lakh crore.
To attract more investment, the state government recently launched a new logo, Invest Odisha.
The new logo signifies and embodies the change that Odisha is undergoing to become the investment destination of choice in India and the diverse investment opportunities that the state has to offer across different sectors, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said at the launch of the new logo.
Odisha is now looking beyond the metals and mining sectors and has identified some thrust sectors, including chemicals, plastics, petrochemicals, downstream and ancillary, agro and sea food processing, electronics manufacturing and textiles for new investments.
It has unveiled the latest edition of its Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR), 2015 that aims to ease business procedures and aims to pull Rs 1.73 lakh crore new investments by 2019.
