Mohan Charan Majhi's govt puts industry on fast track, jobs trail in Odisha

Business Standard

a day ago

On May 22, just a few days shy of first anniversary, Odisha's first BJP Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 24 industrial projects in Jajpur's Kalinganagar.
Spanning key sectors such as steel, ferro alloys, automotive components, and food processing, these projects entail an investment of ₹1.15 trillion and are expected to generate around 36,000 jobs.
These are part of about ₹4.5 trillion worth of investments proposed with a potential to create nearly 285,000 jobs since the Majhi-led government assumed office in the state.
'In just one year, we have approved over 200 large and mega projects. Odisha today stands for credibility, competitiveness, and commitment to progress,' Majhi said after reviewing industrial developments on June 10.
Majhi had taken oath as the chief minister on June 12 last year, after the BJP ended Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal's 24-year rule in the state.
Importance of Kalinganagar
The decision to choose Kalinganagar for the largest single-location investment in Majhi's first year in office assumes symbolic and strategic significance. Once in the spotlight for a clash over land rights and rehabilitation at a Tata Steel plant in 2006 leading to the deaths of 13 tribals in police firing, Kalinganagar has since evolved into a hub of multiple industrial zones because of its strong connectivity through road, rail, and proximity to Dhamra and Paradip ports.
Among the projects inaugurated were Tata Steel's ₹47,599 crore expansion of its integrated steel plant to 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and JSL Group's petroleum and solar power venture worth ₹470 crore.
'Kalinganagar is more than a manufacturing site for us. It symbolises what is possible when communities, government, and industry work together,' Tata Steel's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer T V Narendran had said in a statement following the completion of the Phase II expansion project.
Former CM Patnaik had inaugurated the first phase of Tata Steel's six mtpa steel plant in 2015.
However, senior Congress leader and former finance minister Panchanan Kanungo argued that the government must focus on reviving defunct steel plants in the region.
Make in Odisha push
During the Utkarsh Odisha-Make in Odisha conclave held in January, the government attracted 150 proposals with investment intents worth ₹16.73 trillion having potential to create 1.29 million jobs.
To ensure timely execution and decentralisation of industrial development, the government has unveiled plans to expedite the grounding of mega investments across five identified clusters. 'We are not merely sanctioning projects-- we are grounding them,' Majhi said earlier this week.
The investment proposals span more than 20 sectors, ranging from Odisha's traditional strengths in mining, metallurgy, and downstream metal processing to emerging areas such as green energy, electrolyser manufacturing, electronics, shipbuilding, marine services, engineering, and capital goods.
'Odisha is no longer just a minerals and metals hub,' the chief minister said.
'We are emerging as a diversified industrial powerhouse, where opportunity flows from port to plant, and from cities to every aspirational district.'
However, Kanungo said the key was to ensure these investment proposals are translated into reality. He also said the government's decentralisation effort yielded little on the ground, pointing out that fast-moving consumer goods companies could have been encouraged to set up units in districts like Kalahandi, which have untapped potential in the sector.
Jobs conundrum
While speaking to the media on June 10, Majhi reaffirmed his commitment to filling 150,000 vacant government positions over the next five years, in line with the BJP's election manifesto. Alongside government jobs, the manifesto had also pledged to create 350,000 employment opportunities by 2029.
Majhi has claimed that 28,000 government posts had already been filled within the first year of his tenure, with plans to fill 35,000 more in the current financial year.
But experts said translating these employment opportunities into reality was a challenge.
'The government should focus on reviving labour-intensive industries such as cotton, sugar, oil, and food processing that were once thriving in the state,' he said, adding, 'Investments in sectors like solar power can also create decentralised jobs in rural areas.'
Economist Amarendra Das agreed.
'Mining and metal-based industries are dominant in Odisha. However, employment generation in this sector is abysmally low. That's why focus should be given to employment-generating sectors.'
He said the shortage of adequate employees in departments like industry, environment, and others related to investment processing affects the pace of implementation.
'Power tariffs are lower in Odisha, but still higher compared to Gujarat. That's probably one of the reasons Gujarat gets more industries,' Das said.