512 MoUs signed, only 30 executed in last 5 years: Odisha Industries Minister in Assembly

Odisha government signed 512 MoUs with various industries in the last five years to pump in investment in the State, but only 30 of them have been executed so far, informed Industries Minister Sampad Swain in the Assembly on Friday.

While furnishing a reply to a question from Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati about the progress of industries in the State, Swain said, “From 2020 to March 2024, Odisha has signed 512 MoUs with a proposed investment of Rs 11,85,281.40 crore for several mega projects through the State-level single window clearance authority. Execution of these projects could have created 5,31,000 job opportunities.”

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“However, so far, only 30 of them are partially or fully executed pumping only Rs 19,528 crore investments in the State. If these mega projects become fully operational, it can generate 20,251 more job opportunities,” the Minister informed.

Following Swain’s reply, Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati slammed the Minister and expressed displeasure for allegedly furnishing incomplete facts in the House.

“The present BJP government’s focus is ‘Bikashit Odisha.’ Several companies with the help of the then BJD government procured land from the Tribal communities in Koraput to establish factories in 2004-2005. Even after two decades, there is no sign of a factory in the district. Both BJP and BJD are misleading the people,” Bahinipati alleged. 

Notably, during the period, Odisha government provided 8,652 acres of land to 235 industries to set up their factories in the State.