Opposition Questions Make In Odisha Conclave 3.0

Bhubaneswar: The countdown for the third edition of the Make in Odisha Conclave scheduled to be held in November-December 2020 began after the Odisha government on Saturday formally kicked off its preparations by inaugurating and laying foundation stones of as many as 22 projects worth around Rs 8,938 crore.

With the projects, Odisha government is hopeful of creating around 12,000 job opportunities with focus primarily on 10 different sectors including chemicals, fertilizer, petrochemicals and food processing.

On the occasion, Chief Minister claimed that Odisha is 3rd in the entire country in laying foundation stones for projects. Sources said in the period between April and September 2019, Odisha alone has attracted about 18 per cent of the total investments in the country.

However, according to reports, the ground zero reality is completely different. Sample this: After the first two editions of the Make in Odisha conclave, Odisha government has managed to approve only 41 per cent of the proposals and 40 percent of investments.

Out of 286 proposals made through Make in Odisha conclaves, till now only 119 proposals have been approved. Similarly, while Odisha government had estimated to bring in investment worth around Rs 6,26,349.53 crore, till now the government has got only Rs 2,53,233.36 crore investments through single window clearances.

On top of that, during the last decade, top companies like Mittal and Posco have withdrawn from Odisha. While the government has inked 301 MoUs during the period, only 51 of them have been made partially or fully functional.

Citing such data, Opposition parties targeted the State government for moving ahead with another Make in Odisha conclave.

Taking a dig at the Odisha government, senior Congress legislator Narasingha Mishra said, “The government thinks that just laying foundation stones means industrialization and so this time too they will try to lay as many stones as possible and proudly boast about it.”

Odisha BJP secretary, Lekhashree Samantasinghar also toed on similar lines and slammed Odisha government saying, "All talks about investment of crores are only a drama by the government to hoodwink people because the ground reality is absolutely different.”

On the other hand, Odisha Industries minister, Dibyashankar Mishra claimed that the Odisha government is taking utmost care towards establishing new industries and reviving the ones which are languishing so that top investors will come to Odisha and break ground for their projects.