By Anand Singh & Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneshwar, Dec 1 (IANS) The Make in Odisha conclave, the state's biggest showpiece event here, attracted over Rs 22,000 crore ($3.2 billion) new investments on its first day Thursday.
Leading business groups including the Adanis, Tatas, Hindalco and ITC announced their fresh investment plans in the state.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the Make in Odisha conclave, Adani group chairman Gautam Adani said: "Our overall investment plans in the state stand at over Rs 12,000 crore and we have already started working on additional plans to raise this investment even higher to Rs 15,000 crore. We anticipate these investments leading to a net addition of over 10,000 jobs within the state."
Elaborating on his group plans, Adani said, "We shall expand the capacity of the Dhamra port with the addition of new LNG and LPG terminals."
"We have also started the work required to construct a LNG terminal of 5 MMT capacity entailing an investment of Rs 5,200 crores and a LPG terminal of 2.5 MMT capacity that will see us making an additional investment of Rs 2,300 crores," he added.
Another key investor Tata Steel's Managing Director (India and South East Asia) T.V. Narendran said: "Tata group proposes to invest Rs 15,000 crore in scaling up steelmaking capacity at Kalinganagar plant to eight mtpa from three mtpa currently."
"Investments worth Rs 3,000 crore are already under various stages of execution," he added.
Satish Pai, managing director of Hindalco Industries, announced a fresh investment of Rs 4,000 crore in the state.
The ITC also announced to invest Rs 800 crore in the state.
Speaking at the conclave, its COO Sanjay Puri said: "We would invest Rs 800 crore in two projects in the state, one for the 110 rooms of a five-star hotel under our 'Welcome' brand and second a food processing plant to be set up on Bhubaneswar's periphery."
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages also announced an investment of Rs 500 crore in the state for the next three years.
The Dalmia group also announced an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in the state in its cement projects.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked the industry leaders for showing their commitment towards the state, saying: "The 'Make in Odisha' conclave will go a long way in carrying forward the brand Odisha as a land of new opportunities."
Describing the discussion with the 19 group of companies as a constructive one, Patnaik said that they have displayed their commitment and support for the industrial growth of the state which will lead to massive employment opportunities for the youth.
