Make in Odisha: State 4th in industrial investments in 2019

Bhubaneswar: Industrial investments have apparently picked up in Odisha in 2019, post two mega industrial 'Make in Odisha' conclaves.

The State with a bag of investment worth Rs 26,687 crore till October this year has emerged fourth top state after Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In 2019, Odisha bagged over 6.2 per cent of total investment amount made nationally vis-a-vis mere 1.8 per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018.

Odisha was not in the top-10 private investment destinations in the year 2017 and 2018.

What seems working for the State is,  the emphasis on diversification of industrial basket seems to have clicked. The flow of investments into an array of sectors ranging from biscuits, garments to metals and chemicals, storage to renewable energy et al allude to the State shaping up back to regain its form.

The  news of comfort for the State, when CM Naveen Patnaik has virtually unveiled the agenda for Make in Odisha conclave 3.0 in 2020 is that  the record of implementing the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandums (IEMs) filed has started looking up in 2019.

For the period of Jan- Oct 2019,  Odisha saw investment proposals (not oral commitments) counted at 64 making commitments to invest Rs 26, 687 crore. And the production or commencement of the projects have taken place in 7 such proposals with a total investment of Rs 13,284 crore,  shows the data with State Directorate of Industries.

The discernible green shoot here is Odisha could implement a high of nearly 50 per cent of investment capital proposals filed in 2019 till October end.

In contrast, the record had been pathetic during 2017 and 2018. The rate of implementation of industrial proposals had been mere 2.6 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.

As per the available data, Odisha saw investment proposals filed worth Rs 16,338 crore in fiscal year 2018-19 compared to Rs 4,872 crore in 2017-18. The stats reveal that private investment flow into State has apparently picked up in the last fiscal year 2018-19. Incidentally, Odisha held its 'Make in Odisha' business summit in 2018.

While in the year 2018-19, State bagged maximum investments in metal & refractory industry sector, investments have come into the green renewable energy sector (solar energy) by big industrial houses like Aditya Birla and IMFA.

Investments have also flowed into futuristic auto sector (electric vehicles) chemical, petroleum, garments, hotels and real estate etc. Proposals have tricked in pharma and storage industries.

However, the State is yet to make a big dent in electrical equipment sector, which has been country's top investment draw since 2015.

An analysis of the investment proposals filed in 2018 and 2019 till October reveals that the investment flow has basically concentrated in 12 districts. Maximum proposals have been bagged by districts like Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Jajpur, Khurda and Rayagada.

The new destination picks in 2018-19 were Ganjam, Boudh and Bhadrak.

The bottomline: In order to broadbase the industrialisation and boost private investments in Odisha, the State government may follow the best practices like 'One district, One Product' scheme adopted by UP government.