Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday claimed that Odisha has been able to attract new investments of over Rs 1 lakh crore across multiple sectors despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing a special session on “Aspiring Odisha for Inspired India” at the 93rd annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), he said, “Odisha is set to achieve its cherished goal of becoming a world-class industrial destination.”

“Odisha has been recognised as an investment destination of choice over the years. Odisha was ranked no. 1 in terms of attracting investments during April-September 2019, and is poised to continue this leadership position,” he added.

Projecting Odisha as the fast-emerging “manufacturing hub of eastern India”, Naveen said, “The state has also developed a dedicated land bank with over 1 lakh acres available on a GIS-based platform for easy site selection by industries.”

Assuring that industrialists would be given all sorts of help, Naveen said, “We have developed end-to-end online systems for over 30 government-to-business services to reduce regulatory burden on industries. Timelines for the services have also been included under the state’s Right to Public Services Act for prompt service delivery.”

“The state is currently working on value addition in major industrial regions such as Angul and Jharsuguda for aluminium and Kalinganagar for steel downstream industries.

Further, Paradeep is being developed as the hub for chemicals and petrochemical industries,” Naveen said.

Ficci president and managing director, Apollo Hospitals, Sangita Reddy, also spoke about the investor-friendly industrial climate of Odisha.