The year 2015 has been an eye-opener for Odisha as far as industrial investments are concerned. The State has woken up to fierce competition in luring private investments as
investors were seen no more betting big on the State.
While Odisha finished 7th in ease of doing business list, the State finished 5th overall nationally by bagging Rs 24,290 crore worth private investments till October end this year. In contrast, Odisha finished third in the country with Rs 28, 219 crore in 2014. Odisha is now left behind by neighbouring States like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
This has been State’s worst performance in past nine years. Significantly, Odisha had been at the helm in private investment commitments made nationally till the year 2013. From a high of a whopping 170 investment commitments in 2010, the number of commitments till October 2015 has trickled down to mere 23. The ‘start-ups’ in State have also slowed down in 2015 as the annual growth rate of filing of Entrepreneurial Memorandum - II from over 7 per cent in 2013 - 14 to around 6 per cent in 2014 - 15. Above all, the hang-over of Posco and Vedanta from the past has stirred up the State’s industrial-friendly image to the worse.
However, doors are not banged on for the State. Though the year’s performance in attracting investments have been below par, green shoots for a new sunrise on the horizon is clearly visible as the investment flow to State has picked up in second half of the year, reveals the data. And the icing on the cake is Odisha has come up with a new Industrial Policy 2015, especially when ‘Make in India’ is the flavour of the season in the country. Reason: Most industrial associations have welcomed the new Industrial Policy of Odisha.
The Government also has put into fast lane its effort to solve the problems the metallurgical industries are facing in the State. As over 85 per cent investments from metallurgical sector are from iron and steel industries, the Government held a series of interactions with the Indian Steel Association and East Zone Mining Association in 2015. Significantly, in Odisha such projects commence production after six-long years against the normal practice of 3- 4 years. Though the Government has announced raw material linkage for the iron and steel sector on easy terms in 2015, its new IPR has failed to incentivise tax incentives for emerging industries like chemicals, electrical equipment and fertilisers - this when fertilisers, chemicals (including paints and emulsions), electrical equipment, electronics, food processing and textiles have received the most investment intentions in the country in the years 2014 and 2015. Odisha has not even 5 per cent of its investment proposals from the said sectors.