Stating that Odisha has ‘one of the most progressive startup policies’, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wants his state to be among the top three startup hubs in India by 2020.

With Make in Odisha, the Odisha government is keen to put the state on the fast track to development. The state’s flagship biennial event was inaugurated by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar today.

The event, slated to continue till November 15, aims at bringing in more investments to the state. And with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries (RIL), announcing that the company would invest Rs 3,000 crore in the state over the next three years, the stage seems set.

Rewinding to the first Make in Odisha Conclave in 2016, Naveen Patnaik recalled that the state received 124 investment intents worth more than Rs 2 lakh crore and employment opportunities for more than one lakh people. He added that ”two-thirds of these projects” were in “various stages of implementation”.

To stimulate growth, the Odisha government had drawn up the Odisha Industrial Development Plan: Vision 2015, with a target of attracting investments worth Rs 250,000 crore and creating 30 lakh job opportunities in six focus sectors.

Mission development

The government recently also launched a progressive Aerospace and Defence manufacturing policy to capitalise on the advantages of Odisha’s existing ecosystem and to attract investment in this sector. Targeting port-led development, Odisha is planning a chain of ports along the East Coast Economic Corridor. Besides Paradip and Dhamra, the state is building ports in Subarnarekha and Gopalpur, and a chain of another 12 non-major ports.

There’s a lot more that the state is doing to up its development game. It has launched a Skilled-in-Odisha mission to build a brand by the same name. The government has built an 18-storeyed World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar, which will be managed by Odisha Skill Development Authority with technical support from ITEES, Singapore. More than one lakh 50,000 trainers and trainees will be trained in the next four years under this project.

The SME boom

Naveen Patnaik said that Odisha has “one of the most progressive startup policies”. Odisha aims to be among the top three startup hubs in the country, by supporting a minimum of 1,000 startups by 2020. During the last 18 months, 310 startups have been registered in the state and 40 of them have already been assisted.

With 10 agro-climatic zones and a progressive Food Processing Policy, Odisha claims to provide immense opportunities in the food-processing sector as well. The state has also developed policies to promote entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector.

The CM said that since 2015, more than 25,000 small and medium enterprises have “gone into production”, providing opportunities to more than 670,000 people. The state’s exports also increased a hundred times between 2002 and 2018, he said, with an annual growth rate of 30 percent.

The government of Odisha is developing facilities to support electronics manufacturing and ICT industries. He said it was also the first state to rope in TiE, Silicon Valley, for investment in ESDM and IT Sector.

Getting ahead

With its policies, the government of Odisha has lifted eight million people above the poverty line and has doubled a farmer’s household income in a decade’s time.

“From being a food-deficit state, we have emerged as the third largest contributor to the nation’s granary,” Naveen Patnaik said.

The government, which has constructed up to two million houses within the last five years, said it was aiming for drinking water, electricity, education and health for all.

The development can be seen in rural areas as well. Odisha has 100 percent rural electricity and almost seven million women in the state have joined SHGs. The government has built 500 bridges and 41,000 kilometres of rural roads in the last 10 years.

“While taking pride in our heritage, we are ensuring that our approach and outlook are modern. The smart city tag for two of our cities is a testimony to this changing paradigm,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.

An MoU was signed between ITEES Singapore and Odisha Skills Development Authority to build upon the existing partnerships between both the entities for skill development.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by  Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries; India Kenji Hiramatsu, Japanese Ambassador to India ; Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group; Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources; Nataranjan Chandradekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons; TK Chand, Chairman of NALCO; Satish Pai, CEO of Hindalco; Ritesh Agarwal , CEO of OYO Rooms; Anil Kumar, of SAIL; Sajjan Jindal, MD of JSW Group; Naveen Jindal, Chairman of Jindal Steel; Sajeev Puro , MD of ITC; Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of SBI; Ananta Das, Minister for Industries, Government of Odisha; and Sajeev Chopra, Principal Secretary, Industries Department of Government of Odisha, along with other government officials and delegates.