Bhubaneswar: On the fourth day of the ongoing Make in Odisha (MiO) Conclave here Wednesday, the state government received investment intents worth Rs 1,412 crore, cooperation minister Surya Narayan Patro said.
Briefing the media, Patro said, the government has received intent of investments worth Rs 300 crore from Reliance Retail while ITC has promised Rs 520 crore in agri marketing sector.
About Rs 300 crore will be invested for strengthening and upgradation of warehousing facilities with the latest technology while Rs112 crore will be invested for developing infrastructure for contract farming.
The government is going to bring in a new legislation on contract farming to enable small traders to directly buy agriculture products from farmers. They can also sale it in open market, he said, adding Dabur has shown interest to invest in the state, even though the company has not specified the size of its investment. “They will explore the area first before they come up to commit investments,” Patro said, adding they will make agreement with us.
During the meeting, the cooperation department signed two MoUs for developing agri-marketing infrastructure in the state. While the first MoU was signed with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), another was inked with the Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority (WRDA) for boosting warehouse registrations. OSWC, Markfed, RMCs and PACS will be tapped for this. Efforts will also be made to organise awareness, training and capacity building programmes for farmers for a period of three years.
NAFED will brand pulses, tea, tea bags and organize sales of bio-fertilisers and other agri products and certified seeds including oil seeds and pulses, among others, the minister added.
PNN