Bhubaneswar, March 5: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today advised the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation to reserve land for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in all of its industrial estates and develop an exclusive land bank for them in the state's important growth centres.
Speaking on the inaugural day of the Odisha MSME Trade Fair, Naveen said: "Today, we are celebrating the birth anniversary of the great leader Biju Patnaik, who is the original inspiration behind the industrial and entrepreneurship development in Odisha."
He also asked the single window committees to ensure that MSMEs were provided the same facilitation and ease of approvals as large industries.
District-level single window committees have approved 251 products worth Rs 661 crore since April 2015.
The chief minister also indicated that the development of ancillary industries with the help of central and state public sector units should be accorded priority.
On the occasion, Naveen felicitated 20 winners of the Youth Innovation Award.
The fourth edition of the expo has attracted more than 250 small and medium enterprises, 50 of which are start-ups. In order to encourage young entrepreneurial aspirants, the organisers awarded prize money worth 12 lakh to 20 start-ups for their ideas.
The fair will showcase a variety of products such as electrical equipment, chemicals and petrochemicals, pollution control devices, agro-based and food-processing industries, tourism, IT products, textiles and handicrafts.
Apart from the expo, the six-day programme will host seminars on the start-up policy of Odisha, export promotion, food processing, tourism and procurement policy and credit mobilisation of MSME. Experts from these fields will throw light on various prospects of growth and share their opinions.
MSME minister Jogendra Behera said: "The government has prepared a roadmap for the development of MSME and growth of start-ups. Growth of MSME will ensure prosperity of the state and employment opportunity."
MSME secretary L.N. Gupta said this year's fair focussed on start-ups and in that context, a separate seminar on Mission 1,000 Start-ups would be held.
