Kolkata The Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) has identified nine sectors for attracting investments into the state during the current year. According to Bhupendra Singh Poonia, Managing Director, IPICOL, the sectors include technical textiles, aerospace and defence, green energy, electronics, electric vehicle and battery components manufacturing, textiles and apparels and pharmaceuticals.
“There are nine priority sectors which we have identified. We are one of the biggest primary metal producers like pig iron, steel and aluminium. Now, we are promoting downstream ancillary industry. Some of our focus areas are auto components, white goods, electronics, textiles and apparels, green energy. We have also identified new age sectors like technical textiles, aerospace and defence, pharmaceuticals, white goods, telecommunication equipment,” Poonia told BusinessLine.
IPICOL is responsible for devising the investment promotion, facilitation and aftercare strategy for Odisha.
The Odisha government is aligning its policies to the various PLI schemes available to attract new age industries. The State has already received one investment interest in defence sector and it is in “advanced stage” of implementation, he said.
Bullish on investment growth
In 2021, though there was some impact on investment in Odisha due to Covid-induced lockdown and slowdown in economy, the State has managed to garner investment interest of ₹4.38 lakh crore.
“There are some natural advantages that our state enjoys, including one-third of the country’s iron ore and coal, nearly half of the aluminium bauxite, land, and 11 per cent of water resource. Apart from these, we are investing heavily on skill development All these are big attraction for industry. Now, with economic activities picking up, new projects as well as expansion activities are happening and we are getting good interest. We are optimistic on sustaining the growth momentum in terms of investment interest going forward,” he said.
Apart from the traditional metals and mineral sectors, the State has been witnessing good traction of interest in tourism, plastic and chemicals, and textile and apparels. The availability of skilled manpower and the relatively lower cost of doing business are the key advantages, he pointed out.
“The present quantum of investment will increase as we have very good policy for new age sector apart from natural advantages. We are well connected to rail, road and sea routes and we are the gateway to South East Asian countries,” he said.
In MSME segment, there is a considerable interest in food processing and agri business sectors. The state government has set up district investment promotion agencies to help ground investments and projects.
.