As part of initiatives to help investors set up facilities in the State, the Odisha government has built up 1-lakh-acre land bank, a senior official has said.
Keen on attracting investments in the mineral-rich State, the government has offered various sops and incentives to investors who were showcased advantages of setting up ventures here, Industries Department Principal Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told PTI in an interview.
“When investors come to set up industries, land will be required in huge quantities. We don’t have any issues related to land and have already created a land bank of 1 lakh acres,” he said.
The State has ensured that land has been given all clearances and is ready-to-use, Chopra said, asserting that projects will not face any delays due to hurdles.
Chopra said Odisha has no dearth of land and the government will keep on adding more of it to the bank.
“The government is using policy of engagement not confrontation. It will engage the locals and tell them the purpose for acquiring their land,” Chopra said, alleging that a handful of locals with vested interests were creating differences among the villagers and the government.
Offshore investments
The government is not only trying to attract domestic investors but is wooing offshore investments too.
A State government delegation led by Industries Minister Niranjan Pujari and Chopra will be soon leaving for Japan where they will apprise investors on the state’s business-friendly policies.
The State government had also held meetings with downstream companies at Tata Steel plant premises at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district to showcase the business ecosystem, available incentives and infrastructure facilities in the state
Raw material supply
More than 70 downstream and ancillary companies had attended a conference on Ancillary and Downstream Opportunities in Aluminium last week in Bhubaneswar.
The government had assured investors of uninterrupted supply of raw materials for their projects.
As per the Odisha government, Master planning of National Investment and Manufacturing Zone, Kalinganagar, Dhamra Port- based industrial region and Infovalley has been completed while that of petrochemical investment region at Paradip is under way and will be wrapped up in the next 3-4 months.
Other projects such as plastic park at Paradip, electronics manufacturing cluster at Infovalley and aluminium park in Angul are ready for investments.