Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is utilising its COVID-19 care management to woo investors from the United States. The state government has highlighted its achievements in containing the spread of the highly infectious diseases. They did so in a video conference with a delegation of the US-India Partnership Forum here Tuesday, an official said.
Companies interested to invest
There were a number of companies which showed interest in investing in Odisha. Among them were ATC, Avaada Energy, Cairn Energy, Cisco, Exxon Mobil, Herbalife, HP, Mars, Microsoft, Oracle and Paypal. This was disclosed by an official statement.
The investors interacted with Odisha Chief Secretary AK Tripathy and other senior officers under the leadership of Dr Mukesh Aghi. The latter is the president and CEO of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), the statement said.
The investors comprised various sectors like energy, agri-business, nutrition, aviation, information technology, metals and renewable energy. An official said that the US represented expressed satisfaction at the way COVID-19 has been managed by Odisha.
Banking on success against coronavirus
The chief secretary informed the delegation as to how Odisha created corona care and institutional quarantine facilities. Odisha has set up more than 3.5 lakh bed capacity in a short span of time, Tripathy said.
“Odisha has set up 35 exclusive critical care hospitals for COVID-19 patients. The infection level is well under control and community is quite aware and safe,” Tripathy informed the delegation.
“Many of Odisha’s industrial estates are now in green zone. As of now, around 60 per cent of the industries are running by adopting the COVID-19 preventive measures,” Tripathy told the delegation.
The chief secretary said that Odisha has followed policy consistency in matters of industrial promotion. Now Odisha is on the verge of rolling out more progressive regulations in matters of land leasing and contract farming. He pointed out that direct farmer-market connect will also open new avenues of investment.
Odisha’s advantage
Replying to a query about comparative advantage of Odisha as an investment destination, Industries secretary Hemant Sharma had lots to say.
“Political stability, policy consistency, economic stability, skilled manpower, large mining base, ready availability of land have been the benchmark of Odisha,” said Sharma.He claimed that Odisha is a pioneer state in India having a stabilised single window clearance system for investment proposals. It is supported by a well developed institutional arrangement, asserted Sharma.
This apart, the government also apprised the delegation that Odisha was among top-five lead states in ‘ease of doing business’.