Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday directed the Industries Department to finalise the proposed Odisha Industry Policy-2015 soon with emphasis on value addition, creation of employment opportunities and attraction of more investments to the State. Patnaik gave the direction while reviewing performance of the department vis-à-vis poll promises made before the last general elections.
He told the department to complete the land identification process for the 21 kinds of industries, which would be given priorities in the proposed policy. Similarly, he wanted that the department decide measures to resolve problems being faced by the 20 mega industries which have made investments in the State before the next monthly review meeting. The issues relating to land acquisition, raw material supply, water supply and environmental approval were discussed.
The Chief Minister asked the Industries Secretary to scrutinise information given by industries regarding appointments made by them in their respective units and submit a report. Besides, he emphasised on formation of a State Industry Security Force and acceleration of recruitment process. The meeting, however, didn’t hold any discussion about the proposed Posco project, which is conceived as the largest FDI project in the country with investment proposal of Rs52,000 crore. “Discussion was held on 11 projects of different companies. The Posco issue was not discussed,” Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra told mediapersons after the meeting.