Bhubaneswar, Aug. 8: The state’s industrial development has suffered a setback with the state failing to provide adequate funds for infrastructure development of various projects, including the petroleum chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) project in Paradip.

“The industries department has released only Rs 2 crore to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), the nodal agency for development of PCPIR in Paradip, during 2011-12 and Rs 1 crore in 2013-14,” said an official.

The standing committee of the Assembly has also expressed concern about the budgetary allocation for the project. Total infrastructure cost required for the project is Rs 3,463 crore, of which the government’s share is Rs 1,485 crore and that of the Centre is Rs 1,750.70 crore. Private investment will be to the tune of Rs 407.30 crore.

Reacting to the standing committee report, former Union minister Srikant Jena said: “The state is not at all bothered about industrial development. People are voting them to power and they are comfortable with it.”

Stating that the PCPIR project had the ability to attract investments of more than Rs 3 lakh crore, Jena said that though the Centre had released Rs 20 crore for a plastic park in Paradip as a part of the PCPIR project, the state was yet to allot land for it.

The project is to be developed through public private partnership to the extent possible and the Centre will provide necessary viability gap funding. The PCPIR in Paradip will be set up on an area of 284sqkm in Kujanga and Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur district and Mahakalapada and Marshagai blocks of Kendrapara district.

Of the total state share of Rs 1,485 crore to be considered in the 12th Plan, the share of the industries department is Rs 46 crore. “Apart from this, Idco requires about Rs 200-crore grant towards land acquisition and Rs 20 crore for project development,” the committee said in its report.

The state’s lack of seriousness has also affected its industrial growth.

“In 2007-08, the growth rate was 33 per cent in the manufacturing sector and it is declining from 2010-11 onwards,” the report of the standing committee states.

What is more interesting is that the state industries department has provided only Rs 50 lakh in the budget estimate for 2014-15 for infrastructure development of the proposed aluminium park at Angul. The park is being developed to promote aluminium-based ancillary and downstream industries.

While Idco and Nalco are developing the park, a joint venture company Angul Aluminium Park Private Limited has been registered in July 2010 for it. In the joint venture company, Idco holds 50.5 per cent equity share, while the balance 49.5 per cent share is with Nalco. In all, 46 companies have shown interest to set up their units in the park.

Promotion of new industrial units, parks and estates at state’s major hubs such as Kalinga Nagar, Barbil, Jharsuguda, Choudwar, Dhenkanala, Angul, Sambalpur and Bargarh have also suffered as the government has failed to release adequate funds for this project.

“Only token provisions have been made for the scheme,” said a member of the committee.