BHUBANESWAR: Industry captains vouched for Odisha’s growing financial clout among Indian states as they spoke at the inaugural plenary session of the Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 , state’s flagship biennial investors meet, here on Monday even as chief minister Naveen Patnaik tried to hardsell ‘Advantage Odisha’ to them.Speaking about the potential of Odisha, JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal said, “If India has to become a $10 trillion economy by 2030, Odisha has to play a very important role. Odisha is one of the three states, besides Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu which could become trillion dollar economy.” Other countries such as US and China which are $10 trillion economy have three states each of trillion dollars, he added.Odisha’s current size of economy is estimated to be around US $ 70 billion. According to State Economic Survey 2017-18, the state economic growth rate was pegged at 7.14 per cent in 2017-18, higher than the national average of 6.5 per cent.While Sanjiv Puri, MD, ITC, said, “Odisha has already become a vibrant state” because of “investment friendly policies, good governance, robust infrastructure, mineral resources, agriculture resources and access to the market,” Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani said, “Odisha is fast becoming an ideal investment destination.”Giving his thumbs up to the Odisha growth story, Sandip Somany, president-elect, FICCI, said “With tremendous natural resources, robust infrastructure, skill talents and pro-active government, Odisha is indeed a land of endless opportunities. Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran described Odisha’s phenomenal progress in the past 10-15 years.With top industrialists lauding the Odisha growth story, chief minister Naveen Patnaik summed it up, “It has been a challenging journey; and simultaneously been a fulfilling experience. It is so because, during this period that we have been able to redefine our goals and ambitions; and have gathered our collective energy and collective will to transform Odisha into a happening state.”Naveen said to give further impetus to certain key manufacturing sectors, the Odisha Industrial Development Plan: Vision 2025 targets to attract investment of Rs 2.50 Llakh crore and create 30 lakh jobs by 2025.The CM said Odisha has one of the most progressive start-up Policies. During last 18 months, 310 start-ups have been registered and 40 of whom have already been provided with assistance. “We aim to be among top three start-up hubs in the country by supporting at least 1000 start-ups by 2020,” he said.The state received more than 1.45 lakh crore investment intent from the industries. They include Rs 55,000 crore from JSPL, which plans to expand its steel plant in Angul district from 6 mtpa to 20 mtpa by 2030, Rs 41,000 crore from SAIL for expansion of Rourkela Steel Plant (from 4.5 mtpa to 10 mtpa), Rs 25,000 crore from Tata Group: Rs 25,000 crore (expansion of steel plant at Kalinganagar from 3 mtpa to 8 mtpa, Rs 14,500 crore from Aditya Birla Group, Rs 3000 crore investment in digital infrastructure from Reliance and Rs 6500 crore for expansion of its Lanjigarh refinery capacity from 1 mtpa to 6 mtpa by Vedanta.

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