Odisha government aims to create 3.5 lakh employment opportunities in the next five years

Bhubaneswar: 3/8/24:Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that the State government aims to create 3.5 lakh employment opportunities in the State in the next five years.

The Chief Minister emphasized focus on employment-generating sectors while reviewing the progress of the industrial sector of the State at the Lok Seva Bhawan today.

Since sectors like textile, and food processing have more employment potential, therefore Majhi advised to pay attention to how more industries can be established in these sectors. He also advised encouraging Odia entrepreneurs to set up industries in these sectors.

During the review, the Chief Minister said that a mega steel plant has not been established in mineral mineral-rich districts like Keonjhar. The district has mineral resources, land, water, electricity, communication facilities and all related infrastructure. He, therefore, directed officials to expedite efforts to set up a mega steel plant in the district.

Following the discussion, it was decided that a task force under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary would be constituted to negotiate with various industrial houses to speed up the process of setting up of a mega steel plant in Keonjhar.

In the meeting, Hemant Sharma, Principal Secretary of Industries, made a presentation about the progress made in setting up industries in various sectors. He informed that since 2016 while 989 applications have been received for setting up industries in the state,674 projects have been approved by the Single Window Authority. Out of them, land has been handed over to 352 projects, he added. Apart from this, work has commenced for setting up 183 projects while 74 projects have been operationalized.

Similarly, there are 12 foreign investment proposals in the state. Sharma said that efforts are underway by the Industries Department to implement 41 important investment proposals.

The Chief Minister said that there is a huge opportunity for setting up industries in the state. He opined that it is necessary to expedite all the processes in this regard and provide appropriate opportunities to the industrial organizations at the government level and all the relevant departments of the government extend cooperation to fulfil all their needs.

Industries Minister Sampad Chandra Swain, Chief  Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Nikunj Bihari Dhal, Principal Secretary of Finance Department Saswat Mishra, Managing Director of IPICOL Bhupinder Singh Poonia and senior officials of the Industries Department were present in the meeting.