The Hindu Business Line : Orissa keen on investments in `non-metallurgical sectors'

Kolkata April 2 After attracting investments in mineral-based industries, the Orissa Government is keen to facilitate investments in "non-metallurgical sectors" such as agriculture, horticulture, agro-based industries, IT, crafts and textiles.

This is expected to go a long way in facilitating creation of jobs in the State, according to Mr Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Member of Parliament from Orissa and a resource person focussed on attracting investments into the State.

Speaking at an interface with newspersons here on Monday, Mr Mohapatra said that while the Orissa Government was certainly interested in attracting big-ticket investments, it was "more keen" to ensure the upliftment of more than 94 lakh families in the State that still lives below the poverty line.

"Large industries per se do not create jobs. It is the ancillaries and the downstream units that do so," he said, adding that the State Government was keen that more micro, small and medium industries should come up in Orissa, especially in agro-industries, consumer goods, crafts, textiles, IT etc.

According to Mr Mohapatra, the employment mission in Orissa "is yet to take off". As such, it was the stated intention of the State Government to facilitate gainful engagement of people with a view to ensuring their economic upliftment.

Mr Mohapatra said the Orissa Government had signed 46 memoranda of understanding for setting up steel making capacity aggregating 75 million tonnes. "We will be extremely happy even if half of this eventually materialises," he said and pegged the total value of investments in the pipeline for the State at Rs 4,30,000 crore.

Asked what should be the ideal land acquisition policy of State Governments in the region, especially in the wake of developments pertaining to Singur in West Bengal, Mr Mohapatra said it would be important to engage the villagers whose land is proposed to be acquired. Negotiations should be held directly between the land owners and the business house, which proposes to acquire the land, albeit in the presence of officials of the respective State Government.

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