The Odisha government has set up an ambitious target of generating three lakh jobs in the next four years by boosting manufacturing sector.
“Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has asked the Industries department to prepare a road map aiming generation of three lakh employment and expedite the manufacturing sector,” Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters here after a high level review meeting.
Stating that Odisha’s industries sector could achieve the employment target if it concentrated on the ancillary and small scale units, Mishra said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already stated that Odisha attracted 27 per cent of investment in 2013-14.
“We need to ensure implementation of investment proposals,” the minister said.
The chief minister has directed the department to prepare a plan so that 27 per cent of the state’s gross domestic product comes from the manufacturing sector, Mishra said.
Patnaik has also advised the department to finalise the guidelines for the SEZ policy and Industrial Policy Resolution 2015 soon in order to attract further investments in the state, he informed.
The government has planned investments and employment generation in three manufacturing zones – Kalinganagar investment and manufacturing zone in metal sector, Dhamra Port-based manufacturing zone in manufacturing sector and Paradip zone in hydro-carbon sector, Mishra said.
Asked about the government’s plan for setting up a land bank, he said the state has already completed the survey for creation of land bank comprising over 1.12 lakh acres.
The meeting also discussed different projects like electronics system designing manufacturing (ESDM) park at Bhubaneswar, seafood park at Deras, handloom park at Ganjam, aluminium park in Rayagada and Angul, and ancillary steel industries in Jharsuguda and Sambalpur.
Prasanta Patnaik