The government of Odisha wants to invest ₹50,000 crores in downstream and ancillary sectors, including mining and metals.
The Odisha government is preparing new incentives for investors in the form of land at a greatly reduced price, power tariff reimbursement, and capital goods investment subsidies for its next industrial policy. Over the next four to five years, the state government anticipates investments in the mining, metals, downstream, and ancillary industries totaling ₹50,000 crore.
A proposal to designate downstream and auxiliary metal as a “priority sector” has been made, according to Hemant Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary, Odisha Industries Department. Over the past two years, the mining, metal, downstream, and auxiliary industries have seen significant growth in the State.
“Odisha would be able to attract huge investment in mining as well as ancillary services and sectors in the next four to five years. In ancillary and downstream together, we are expecting (investments) no less than ₹50,000 crore over the next five years,” Sharma told the Media.
In the industrial policy, which is likely to be finalised next month, the state government is looking to offer additional incentives in the form of capital goods investment subsidies, electricity tariff reimbursements, exemptions from electricity duty, land at a highly concessional rate, exemptions from stamp duty, and incentives for transportation.
“We have to provide more incentives, better infrastructure support for the investors. In our upcoming industrial policy we have proposed that both downstream and ancillary metal be declared as a priority sector. We have kept financial incentives as well, for more companies to come to Odisha,” he said.
Mining and downstream traction with metals
The state government was able to successfully auction off several sizable mineral blocks as a result of the mining industry’s opening up, and as a result, private sector firms like JSW, Adani, and Nippon Steel among others entered the market. The mining industry is undergoing a significant transformation that is making it more organised and mechanized.
“There is a need for more services, mechanical improvement etc. There are new ancillary areas to mining which we discovered later,” he said.
Due to the fact that a sizable portion of the minerals are transported outside of Odisha, there is a tremendous need for logistics, which was previously a small and unorganised sector.
The amount of metal moving downstream is growing.
“There is a huge boom due to national and international developments; ease of getting minerals in Odisha through auction is a key factor, and, of course, there is a demand upcycle also. Now all this is leading to ancillary activities,” he pointed out.
The state government anticipates strong participation from some of its focus sectors, including mining and metallurgy, apparel and garment textile, agro and food processing, chemicals and petrochemicals, IT and ITES, at the upcoming Make in Odisha conclave 2022, which will take place between November 30 and December 4.
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