Investors' Meet: NLC to invest Rs 25,000 cr in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), a Navratna public sector undertaking (PSU), has expressed its desire to invest Rs 25,000 crore in Odisha. The PSU announced this at the two-day Odisha Investors' meet that began in Bengaluru on Thursday.

The company said it has plans to build a thermal power plant, a 500 MW solar power plant and a coal mining processing plant in the eastern State.

“We met the minister and expressed our interest to set up a 2000 MW thermal power station in the State. We need speedy clearance for the land and water resources required for the prupose,” said Sarat Acharya, CMD, NLC.

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), another central PSU, has expressed interest to invest Rs 2,000 crore for a solar plant in Bolangir.

The Odisha government is organising the meet in an attempt to encourage investments in sectors like manufacturing, IT, electronics, petrochemicals, food processing and tourism.

Chief minister Naveen Pattnaik is scheduled to attend the meet on Friday. The State government is expected to unveil its Start-up Policy, 2016 which aims to create 1,000 start-ups in the next five years and a master plan for Info Valley, a dedicated IT hub located at the outskirts of the city.

The new policy, which has recently got the cabinet nod, envisages to position Odisha among the top three start-up hubs in the country by 2020 through strategic partnerships, a conducive ecosystem, investments and policy intervention.

About 250 companies are likely to hold discussions with the State government for investment in Odisha.