Odisha pitches east coast-led growth as India's next economic engine

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi urged industries to back east coast-led growth, positioning the state as a future manufacturing and logistics hub

Drawing a sharp contrast between the rapid industrialisation of India’s western coastline and the untapped potential of the eastern seaboard, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi called for a strategic national shift towards east coast-led growth.

 

Addressing industry leaders during a visit to Mundra Port in Gujarat on Wednesday, he asserted that the next phase of India’s economic expansion must be driven by states such as Odisha with strong maritime, industrial and logistics advantages.

 

The Chief Minister said India’s growth trajectory cannot remain concentrated on one coastline alone and argued that balanced coastal development would be critical for the country’s long-term economic competitiveness and trade integration.

 

 

“India’s growth cannot remain one-sided. The next phase of industrial expansion must be powered by the east coast,” Majhi said while making a strong pitch for Odisha as a major industrial and logistics gateway in the coming decade.

 

Positioning Odisha at the centre of India’s future manufacturing and export ecosystem, the Chief Minister said the state was prepared to replicate and scale the industrial successes witnessed along the western coast. While the west coast has evolved into a major maritime trade and industrial hub over the years, the eastern coastline has now reached a decisive inflection point with growing investments, policy support and infrastructure readiness, he said.

 

“What has been achieved on the west coast must now be expanded on the east. Odisha offers the ecosystem, connectivity, and policy support to enable that transition,” the CM said.

 

Majhi underlined Odisha’s strategic geographic location and its proximity to Southeast Asia, East Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region, emphasising that the state was well-positioned to emerge as a key node in global supply chains and maritime trade routes. 

He proposed what he described as a “two-coast strategy”, urging industries to build integrated operational networks across both western and eastern seaboards to strengthen India’s manufacturing and export resilience.

 

“Balanced coastal development is essential for India’s long-term competitiveness. The east coast will play a defining role in the next decade of growth,” Majhi added.

 

The remarks come at a time when the Centre is increasingly focusing on port-led development, industrial corridors and coastal economic zones to boost manufacturing competitiveness and reduce logistics costs. Odisha, with major ports such as Paradip Port, Dhamra Port and Gopalpur Port, is seeking to position itself as a major beneficiary of this shift.

 

During the visit, the Odisha delegation highlighted the state’s accelerating industrial momentum and growing investment pipeline. The state has already approved 433 investment proposals worth Rs 8.37 lakh crore, while 148 projects worth Rs 2.86 lakh crore have moved into the grounding and implementation stage in less than two years.

 

“In Odisha, investment intent is translating into implementation with speed and scale,” Majhi said, maintaining the government’s focus on fast-tracking project execution and creating industrial ecosystems anchored around ports, logistics infrastructure and downstream manufacturing clusters.

 

The Chief Minister also highlighted emerging opportunities across sectors including logistics, petrochemicals, chemicals and downstream manufacturing, supported by industrial infrastructure expansion and investor facilitation measures undertaken by the state government.

 

As part of the visit, the delegation toured major facilities at Mundra, including the container jetty, the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) jetty, industrial zones and manufacturing units linked to renewable energy and metals sectors. They also toured solar cell and wind turbine component manufacturing facilities, which represent an integrated industrial development model that Odisha now seeks to replicate through its own port-based industrial ecosystems.

 

Sampad Chandra Swain, Minister for Industries, Skill Development and Technical Education, who hails from the port town of Paradip, said Odisha has already witnessed the transformative economic impact of port-led development and is now preparing for a much larger phase of industrial expansion.

 

“I have personally witnessed how Paradip has played a pivotal role in shaping Odisha’s economic growth. We are building on that strong foundation to usher in a new phase of port-led industrialisation. The state government is focusing on timely approvals, stronger facilitation and faster project grounding to ensure investments translate into industrial expansion and employment generation,” he said.

 

The Odisha government has in recent years intensified its efforts to attract investments across manufacturing, green energy, chemicals, semiconductors, textiles and logistics sectors, while simultaneously strengthening transport connectivity and industrial infrastructure. Officials believe the state’s mineral reserves, port network and proximity to emerging Indo-Pacific trade routes could make Odisha a major industrial and export hub over the next decade.

 

The high-level delegation included Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretaries Hemant Sharma and Saswata Mishra, and other senior officials, who interacted with industry representatives and showcased Odisha’s industrial policy framework, governance reforms and facilitation mechanisms aimed at attracting large-scale investments.