Bhubaneswar, May 30: Buoyed by the positive response to its initiatives of announcing six-sectoral policies to attract investment, the state government is formulating two more policies which will be announced shortly.
"Two more policies for auto and auto components manufacturing and defence and aerospace manufacturing are under formulation and these will be promulgated in the coming months", industries minister Niranjan Pujari said today.
In November, the state government had announced six sector-based policies in the run up to the Make in Odisha Conclave held in Bhuba-neswar in December. These policies were: pharmaceuticals policy, apparel policy, start-up policy, healthcare investment policy, food processing policy and biotechnology policy.
The minister claimed that the state had received 124 investment intents for projects worth Rs 3.64 lakh crore during the thee investor meets organized in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar in 2016. Subsequently, firm commitments for 71 projects had been received.
The Single-Window Clearance Authority has already cleared 61 projects worth more than Rs 1.32 crore for implementation in diversified sectors such as food processing, petro chemicals, chemicals and plastics, infrastructure and logistics, renewable energy, tourism and health care, said Pujari.
"The government's intent is now to focus on grounding and implementation of projects on ground. In the coming two to three months, ground breaking and inauguration will take place for more than 10 industrial projects in various districts across the state," he said.
A single-window clearance portal is being developed where more than 50 investor services concerning various approvals and clearances by various departments will be made available online, the minister added.
Naveen has set a target to attract investments worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the six focus sectors and generate employment for 30 lakh people by 2025.
The state government has also set up world-class industrial infrastructure facilities in the form of four investment regions. While master planning for three investment regions at Kalinga Nagar, Dhamra port and Infovalley has been completed, the one for petroleum and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) in Paradip is underway and expected to be completed in the next three to four months.
On the other hand, the BJP criticized the state government for not translating into action its tall announcements on attracting investments and creating employment opportunities. "Not a single company, which has obtained clearance from the Single-Window Clearance Authority, has signed MOU with the state government during 2016-17," said BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty.
