Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday rang the ceremonial opening bell of the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai. The opening bell marks the beginning of trading at the stock exchange.

“I was happy to be at this historic institution today and it was the most interesting experience,” Naveen said.

Later Naveen tweeted: “Honoured to ring the opening bell at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE India). Mumbai. For Investors looking forward to invest, Odisha is indeed a place to be. Appeal investors to take advantage of conducive business ecosystem, friendly facilitation services and policies. Invest Odisha.”

Prior to it, Naveen on Wednesday evening met top-notch industrialists of the country, including chairman of Aditya Birla Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited Anil Agarwal, chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, chief financial officer (CFO) of STT, GDC (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres India), Bimal Khandelwal, country head of the HDFC Bank Arvind Vohra, executive director of the ICICI Bank Rakesh Jha, MD of JM Baxi Group Dhruv Kotak, chairman of Appar Industries Limited Chaitanya Desai, chairman SBI, Dineh Kumar Khera and chairman and MD of Waare Group Hitesh Chimanlal Doshi at the curtain raiser event for the Odisha investors meet for Make in Odisha Conclave (MIO) and invited them to join its third edition. MIO is a flagship event of the Odisha government which showcases the state as an industrial powerhouse and a preferred investment destination in the country. It is scheduled to be held from November 30 to December 4 in Bhubaneswar.

During the meeting with the industrialists and bankers, Naveen highlighted Odisha’s natural strength for setting up mineral-based industries, conducive business ecosystem, infra and skilled workforce, immense opportunities, incentives and facilitation offered in the Odisha state data centre policy, the huge scope in component manufacturing, setting up ancillary, downstream industries, immense opportunities in logistics services, maritime trade, and cargo operation, vast growth opportunities in banking sectors, expansion of banking network for increasing financial inclusion in rural areas.

Naveen also pointed out how Odisha is one of the fastest growing economies in India and has consistently grown above the national average in the last decade and a half.

“We are fast emerging as a major industrial destination in eastern India because of our natural resource advantage and strategic location. Over the last 20 years, my government has focused on leveraging these natural advantages through progressive policy, efficient administration, and technological interventions,” he said.

Prior to the meeting of industrialists, Naveen met ambassadors from over 30 countries and over 50 delegates, representing various industries from across India in New Delhi in August, and invited them to join the third edition of the Make-in-Odisha Conclave.

Make in Odisha Conclave (MIO’22) aims to provide a platform for industry leaders from across the world to chalk out a roadmap for industrial development in the coming years. “MIO began in 2016, which witnessed a footfall of 18,500 and received over 120 investment intents valued at over Rs 2 lakh crore. In 2018, the 2nd edition of MIO received investments worth over Rs 4 lakh,” officials said.