Odisha’s economy has seen massive transformation in the past two decades with the State’s journey from a revenue-deficit economy to a revenue-surplus one. All this was possible because of massive industrialisation, said eminent political leaders and economists at the annual ‘New Odisha-Vibrant Odisha’ Conclave here on Wednesday.
Odisha Legislative Assembly SpeakerSurjya Narayan Patro, former Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, former Chief Secretary JugalMohapatra, JSPL CSR head Prashant Hota, JK Paper CSR State head Prafulla Dhal, economist DrPravas Mishra, Press Council of India Member PrasannaMohanty and senior journalist Akshaya Kumar Sahoo touched various points of Odisha’s economy and suggested measures for strengthening it.
“Odisha has rich mineral resources which are attracting minerals-based industries. In the last two decades, the State has succeeded in wooing all big minerals-based industries which have greatly contributed to the State’s economy,” said Patro.
The conclave was jointly organised by New Delhi-based Centre for Socio-Economic Studies and the Indus Valley Times newspaper.
PrafullaGhadai spoke how the State was battling financial blues in the early years of the present century and outlined the fiscal measures that helped Odisha overcome its financial hardships.
“In 2000, we were struggling to prepare a Budget of Rs 11,000 crore. In 2021-21, we presented a budget of 1.70 lakh crore. This year, the Budget allocation might touch or even exceed Rs 2 lakh crore,” said Ghadai.
JugalMohapatra stressed on the need for harnessing green energy to run industries to reduce the carbon burden on the environment. He also emphasised that strategies are needed to ensure that agri-workers are absorbed in labour-intensive industries so as to address the unemployment issue.
The industry leaders and other speakers highlighted how the industries in Odisha worked hand in hand with the State Government during the Covid-19 pandemic and contributed to keep the State economy afloat.
“When the State badly required funds to meet the Covid exigencies, the industries in Odisha, which continued their productions despite the challenges, contributed revenues to the State coffer. Their contribution was almost 40% to the State’s Gross State Domestic Product,” the speakers said.