Idco asked to adopt definite strategy for land acquisition
Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati on Monday directed the Industries Department to develop a land Bank of at least 50,000 acres for public and industrial purposes. The Department of Industries along with the Idco and the Ipicol has been directed to carry out initiatives in a time-bound manner to boost industrial development.
Pati, at a meeting held at the State Secretariat, outlined key initiatives for development of industrial infrastructure. The Industries Department was asked to work out a definite work strategy for land acquisition in the light of the new land acquisition Act.
Development Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi, ACS Finance UN Behera, Industries Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev and other senior officers attended the meeting.
Pati also directed to streamline the single-window mechanism, hold Ipicol single-window meetings more frequently and address pending issues of already cleared proposal for expediting them.
Besides, the department was asked to finalise the draft Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) for 2014 within this month.
The Chief Secretary also advised the department to focus on development of downstream and value addition industries in clusters.
He indicated that all steel plants should be asked to promote downstream industries and at least 25 per cent of the steel produced in the State should be put to vale addition in downstream industries.
The department was asked to deploy dedicated teams for each industrial cluster with firm datelines for milestones to be accomplished. The teams would remain responsible for development of the projects within timelines.
Notably, Odisha has been one of the top three States in terms of attracting investment during the last decade with the capacity addition in various key sectors having ranged from three to 12 times. Presently, the Idco is facilitating around 226 industrial projects.
Around 106 industrial estates/parks have been initiated. The industrial parks like Infovalley-IT & ESDM Park Bhubaneswar, Electronic Hardware Manufacturing Park Bhubaneswar, INFO Park, Bio-Tech Park Bhubaneswar, Aluminum Park Angul, Mega Food Park at Rayagada, Plastic Cluster at Baleswar and Paradip, Sea Food Cluster at Deras, Kalinganagar Steel Hub, PCPIR, Paradeep and Special Investment Region at Dhamara have been launched.
Mega infrastructure projects like development industrial corridors, common industrial corridors for coal-bearing regions, Fortune Tower, Ekamra Tower, convention-cum-trade zone in Bhubaneswar have also been undertaken. Idco Towers have been planned in Sambalpur, Angul, Dhenkanal, Baleswar, Paradip, Jharsuguda and Kalinganagar.
The Chief Secretary stressed the need for expediting the process for development of the Silicon Valley and advised that the valley be developed with high-rise buildings.
It was decided that the Idco would work out a district-wise strategy for development of downstream and ancillary units. The Chief Secretary wanted completion of the task by end of this month.
Emphasizing on technological up-gradation of industries and capacity enhancement of human resources, Pati directed to have a Special Unit for dissemination of technology. The team should regularly visit the industries and advise them on necessary technological up-gradation and capacity enhancement.
The department was asked to develop a common facility production centre for production of tools and dices at Baleswar.