as it seeks FDI from UAE to fuel high-growth economy
Odisha Government led by Honourable Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met key UAE business groups to promote investment in the state’s industrial sector
Riding on the last two years of a high level of investments approved by Government of Odisha, amounting to over US$50 billion since 2021, the state Government of Odisha in India is attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in sectors such as Metals and Metal downstream, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Textiles and Apparel including Technical Textiles, Food processing including Seafood processing, ESDM, Logistics and Clean Energy.
In this regard, the Odisha Investors Meet was held in Dubai today under the leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, India, along with a delegation of senior officials from the Government of Odisha.
The Investors Meet was jointly organised with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Embassy of India in UAE. It was attended by more than 150 companies based out of the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from sectors comprising of Minerals and Metals processing, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, Plastics, Heavy Industries, Clean Energy, Food Processing including Sea Food Processing, Electrical Equipment and Electronics Manufacturing, Logistics and Warehousing, Real Estate, and Hospitality. Leading industry associations from the region including Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) also participated in the event.
During the Investors Meet, a presentation on the “Odisha Industrial Ecosystem” was made highlighting the huge investment opportunities in Odisha.
Highlighting the various advantages of Odisha state, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik addressed the gathering underlining Odisha’s Mineral advantage; Odisha’s human resource advantage; Odisha’s use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation and Odisha’s progressive policy and governance advantage.
“Odisha holds the lion’s share of India’s mineral reserves with 96 percent of the country’s chromite reserves, 92 percent nickel, 53 percent bauxite, 45 percent manganese, 35 percent iron-ore, and 23 percent coal reserves of India. This has made Odisha the largest producer of Steel, Stainless Steel, Ferro Alloys, Alumina, and Aluminium in India. Odisha also has 11 percent of India’s water resources. The state has a 480-km long coastline making it a natural choice for setting up ports, and for international trade,” he said.
The State is home to a large and highly skilled workforce. Highlighting Odisha’s human resource advantage, Shri Patnaik said, “We have made good investments in setting up technical and professional institutes at all skill levels – ITIs, Polytechnics, and engineering and management colleges. Eleven of India’s top 100 Industrial training institutes are in Odisha. With the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES), Singapore, the Government of Odisha has recently established the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar to prepare the Odia workforce for modern and new age Industry.”
On Odisha’s use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation, he said, State’s Single Window portal for investors, GO SWIFT has transformed the B2G interface with its user-friendly features which provide time-bound clearances for over 50 G2B services. Odisha is also home to over 1200 start-ups, many of which are in the technology space.
Underlining Odisha’s progressive policy and governance advantage, the Honourable Chief Minister said, focusing on 5Ts – Transparency, Technology, Teamwork, Time, and Transformation, the state Government has taken up several proactive measures for the development of industries and infrastructure. This has created an industry-led ecosystem of value addition, sustainable employment generation, and revenue augmentation in the State.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister also announced that the State would be conducting the third edition of its flagship Global Investors Meet – “Make In Odisha 2022” during Nov 30-Dec 04, 2022 at the state capital Bhubaneswar, India. The event would focus on sectors including Metals and Metal downstream, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Textiles and Apparel including Technical Textiles, Food processing including Seafood processing, ESDM, Logistics and Clean Energy. The Chief Minister extended the invitation to businesses in the MENA region to attend the Make In Odisha 2022 Investor Meet and witness the opportunities the State offers.
The team Odisha also conducted one-on-one B2G meetings with major companies of the region such as LuLu Group, NBTC Group, Sharaf Group, Twenty Fourteen Holding and Tablez Group, ERAM Group, Sobha Group, Arab and India Spices LLC, Tabreed, etc. The State Government invited them to explore Odisha in their future expansions and apprised them of the huge Indian and sub-continent market. The government also assured all the companies of unmatched facilitation and support.
The team Odisha also included a high-level business delegation from the top companies who have invested in Odisha. The business delegation included Parth Jindal – Managing Director, JSW Cement, Saroj Poddar – Chairman, Paradeep Phosphates Limited, Satish Pai – Managing Director, HINDALCO, Dilip Oomen – CEO, AM/NS India, Rahul Sharma – CEO, Vedanta Ltd., Subhrakant Panda – Managing Director, IMFA, Sujoy Choudhury- Director, IOCL, Jagadish Naik – Chairman, and Managing Director, DN-Homes, Bhabatosh Sahoo, Managing Director, B-One Business House Pvt Ltd., Prashant Mallick – Managing Director, Tata Steel SEZ and Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary – Vice President, Tata Steel Ltd.
The Odisha Investors’ Meet was a platform for presenting the vast array of opportunities Odisha offers to businesses in the UAE and the MENA region. It has generated a huge interest among the business community as it is the first time that a state like Odisha which has received significant domestic investments has also reached out to UAE to attract FDI.
About Odisha State
India’s best-kept secret Odisha is a state of India, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bounded by the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal to the north and northeast, by the Bay of Bengal to the east, and by the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to the south and Chhattisgarh to the west.
Before India became independent in 1947, Odisha’s capital was at Cuttack. The present capitol was subsequently built at Bhubaneshwar, in the vicinity of the city’s historic temples in the east-central coastal plains. In late 2011 the state’s name was officially changed from Orissa to Odisha. With an area of 60,119 square miles (155,707 square kilometres), it has a population of 46 million people.
Odisha is located in a climatic region known as tropical wet-dry (or tropical savanna). In January, the coolest month, high temperatures in Cuttack typically rise into the mid-80°F (about 30°C) from a low in the mid-50°F (low 10°C). In May, the warmest month, temperatures usually reach the mid-90°F (mid-30°C) from a low in the low 70°F (low 20°C). The higher elevations of the hills provide some relief from the summer heat, which becomes particularly oppressive in the basins of the central tract.
Most of the state’s manufacturing activities are tied to its natural resources. Large-scale mineral-based industries include steel, ferromanganese, cement, aluminum, and fertiliser production as well as nonferrous smelting. Other major industries include the manufacture of chemicals, ceramic products, and aeronautics equipment. In general, heavy and large-scale industries are concentrated in the interior regions of the state. By contrast, most of the foundries (especially for aluminum and brass), glassworks, and paper mills are located in the coastal plains, as are small-scale industries, including mills that produce cotton textiles, sugar, and rice. There is also a small but significant handicraft sector that includes a highly regarded sericulture (silk production) industry.
