by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, Investing, Markets, News, SMEs
Bhubaneswar : Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said on Monday the group, which has already invested Rs 6,000 crore in Odisha over the last few years, will invest an additional Rs 3,000 crore in the state.
“Today, Reliance has emerged as one of the largest investors in the state in the last few years. Reliance has already invested over Rs 6,000 crore in the state. And today, I am committing to invest an additional Rs 3,000 crore in our new businesses in Odisha,” he said at the Make in Odisha Conclave here.
The additional investments would be made in the next three years.
“Most of our investments are in creating the Jio network. For Reliance, Jio is not just another business. It is a mission to transform India — to transform Odisha. We have created sustained new employment opportunities, both direct and indirect, to over 30,000 people in the state,” he said.
Since Reliance Jio commenced operations little over two years ago, India has moved from the 155th rank in mobile broadband penetration to being the number one nation in mobile data consumption in the world, he said.
“We are committed to connecting everyone and everything, everywhere always with the highest quality and the most affordable price. I have a big reason for focusing on digital business.
The world is at the cusp of a digital revolution,” Ambani said.
He also said the group is taking another step to propel Odisha further into the digital future.
“With JioGigaFiber, we have now begun an ambitious push in fixed broadband through fiber-to-the-home and premise.
“Our aim and resolve is to ensure that India rises from the present 135th rank to be amongst the top three nations in fixed broadband within the next three years,” Ambani said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodity Market, Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Corporate Jobs, Employment, Investing, Private Jobs
Bhubaneswar : The Odisha government on Tuesday approved seven investment proposals worth Rs 7,416 crore, which will help create employment opportunities for 4,454 people.
The 80th meeting of the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Aditya Prasad Padhi, approved the proposals.
The investment proposals include steel, downstream industries in metals and minerals and plastics.
The SLSWCA accorded approval to a Hyderabad-based company to set up a manufacturing unit for pre-engineered building (PEB) including structural steel members at an investment of Rs 58 crore at Cuttack, said a release.
The plant’s production capacity will be 50,000 MT per annum and the project will create direct and indirect employment for 550 people. This will add value to the primary metal being produced in the state, it said.
A Kolkata-based company’s proposal to establish a manufacturing unit for Polypropelene (PP) woven bags at Paradip Plastic Park also received the government’s nod.
The unit will invest Rs 72 crore and create direct and indirect employment opportunities for 625 people.
The third proposal approved was of a Kolkata-based company which aims to set up a plant of 8,000 TPA capacity of ductile iron fittings at Kalinganagar Industrial Complex, Jajpur with a total investment of Rs 51 crore. The plant will create employment opportunities for 615 people, the release said.
A Ghaziabad-based company’s proposal to establish 0.3 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) rolled and processed steel plant, 0.12 MTPA and an LPG cylinder manufacturing unit with capacity of 2,500 cylinders per annum was approved in the meeting.
The cumulative investment committed by the company was Rs 238 crore and this would create direct and indirect employment for 270 people.
The proposal of NALCO to set up an aluminium downstream unit to manufacture aluminium alloy wheel, aluminium foil, aluminium rolled products and aluminium extrusions near Kamakhyanagar, Dhenkanal with an investment of Rs 5,522 crore was recommended to High Level Clearance Authority headed by the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, for final approval. This will create employment opportunities for 1,761 people.
The sixth proposal approved in the meeting belonged to a Kolkata-based group which proposed to set up a 4 MTPA iron ore pelletisation plant at Dhenkanal with an investment of Rs 625 crore. This large project shall create employment opportunities for 167 people.
The same group’s other proposal to set up a 4 MTPA iron ore beneficiation plant at Sundargarh and laying of 200 KM iron ore slurry pipeline in Dhenkanal at an investment of Rs 850 crore also received approval. This project will create direct and indirect employment for 466 people.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books, News, Politics
By Chinmaya Dehury,
Title: Naveen Patnaik; Author: Ruben Banerjee; Publishers: Juggernaut; Pages: 226; Price: Rs 469
How did a man, spending his early days on Delhi’s cocktail circuit, defy stereotypes to script an enviable success story that has few parallels in the history of modern Indian politics? What led Naveen Patnaik, who had nothing to do with politics for the first fifty years of his life, become one of India’s most enigmatic politicians?
And, how did Patnaik, who remains the most inaccessible Chief Minister in the history of Odisha, rule the state for four consecutive terms and remained undisputed leader even without knowing the mother tongue of the masses? The answers to these and many other questions are unveiled by veteran journalist Ruben Banerjee in his biography of the Odisha Chief Minister.
Although he first become the Chief Minister by virtue of being his father’s son, Naveen Patnaik made a smooth and effortless transition from his bohemian days in Delhi’s cocktail circuit to a cunning and consummate politician and the longest serving Chief Minister of Odisha.
The author, who had access to Naveen Patnaik during his early days in politics, has unveiled a mine of information unknown to the world at large in the book.
Since Patnaik is considered a mysterious and unpredictable man for his omissions and commissions, the book, without a doubt, is a fascinating and interesting read for anyone interested in Odisha politics or in just the person who is Naveen Patnaik.
The book also dispels the popular belief that it is Patnaik, not someone else, who calls the shots in the government and the party as well. It, however, does mention about the over dependency of the chief minister on bureaucrats rather than on ministers to run the administration.
Patnaik, the book charts, entered into politics in 1997, founded the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and become the party president, a post that he still holds. He became the Chief Minister of Odisha for the first time in 2000 with the help of alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), riding on the sympathy following the demise of his legendary father and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and the public’s anger over complete mismanagement by Congress government of relief measures post the 1999 Super Cyclone that had devastated the state.
The author has also articulated how Patnaik, once a political novice, ruthlessly eliminated every possibility of an opposition within the party, real or imaginary, even before it took shape and banished his opponents into political wilderness to consolidate his position as the undisputed leader in the party and the state.
A case in point is the ouster of Bijoy Mohapatra, once a powerful minister in the Biju Patnaik cabinet and chairman of Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of BJD.
Mohapatra had chosen most of the candidates and they were all his men in 2000 elections.
But when he was chairing the PAC meeting in Bhubaneswar, Patnaik, being the president of the party, cancelled Mohapatra’s nomination as the candidate from Patkura and chose another as the party candidate just barely few hours before the completion of nomination process leaving no room to Mohapatra to enter the Assembly.
Patnaik, rather suave yet cunning, has also ensured that Mohapatra did not enter the assembly even till today. As the author rightly pointed out “Naveen the politician had shown the ability to outsmart the smartest of them”.
After he became Chief Minister in 2000, he continued to eliminate his possible challenges within the party starting from Dilip Ray, a businessman-politician, to Nalinikanta Mohanty, then BJD’s working president and second only to Naveen in the party hierarchy.
The book also highlights the protégée-mentor relationship between Naveen Patnaik and Pyari Mohapatra and how Mohapatra had staged an abortive coup on May 29, 2012, when Naveen was in UK.
Even though the author has elaborated on the abortive coup, a few answers remain elusive — including was it really a coup or just a media creation?
The author elaborately describes on how the TINA factor helped him to rule the state for so long and how he remained the darling of the masses, bucking the anti-incumbency factor.
“Members of one group, in particular, vouch vociferously for the chief minister’s integrity. These are an overwhelming majority of Odisha’s 200 lakh women, the chief minister’s trusted vote bank. Naveen is a bachelor, but his emotional bonding with the state’s womenfolk is remarkable,” the book says.
The book also highlights how Patnaik has mastered the art of shifting the blame on someone else to remain Mr. Clean despite the fact that some of the biggest scams –mining, chit funds — in the history of the state took place during his watch.
“The key to Naveen’s success is that even though he has indulged in political machinations and subterfuge, he has largely come out of them without blemish, skillfully sidestepping scrutiny and deflecting criticism. He is still viewed by many as innocent and incapable of the vileness of an ordinary politician. And when something goes horribly wrong somewhere in the state, there is always someone else who shoulders the blame, sparing Naveen any taint. That he is single, soft-spoken and always deferential has helped in nurturing Naveen’s image,” the book says.
By rough estimates, Patnaik has so far shown the door to some 46 of his ministers on one pretext or the other, it said.
The book also mentions the possible challenge for Patnaik in the 2019 polls with the rise of BJP and union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. As the author points out, “The battle for 2019 promises to be a test of guile, image and stamina.”
The book is a required read for those who want a balanced telling of the Chief Minister’s journey so far. Also, for those interested in the political journey of Odisha, including the rule of Biju Patnaik and J.B. Patnaik, the book is a great repository.
(Chinmaya Dehury can be contacted at chinmaya.d@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Commodity Market, Investing, Medium Enterprise, SMEs
Bhubaneswar : The government of Odisha’s Single Window for Investor Facilitation and Tracking (GO-SWIFT) has received 300 proposals from investors across the country, an official said on Friday.
Launched in November 2017, the portal received the 300th proposal from Kerala-based Kitex Garments Ltd, which has committed to invest Rs 177 crore at Gopalpur in Ganjam district of the state to set up an apparel manufacturing unit.
The project will create employment opportunities for over 5,000 people, with a majority of them being women, the official said.
The project proposals submitted on GO-SWIFT to set up manufacturing units envisage a cumulative investment commitment of Rs 18,208 crore with an employment potential of over 29,000.
The investment proposals relate to a variety of sectors ranging from food processing, seafood, aluminium downstream, apparel, cement, tourism, etc.
Compared to the eight-month period prior to the launch of GO-SWIFT, the number of investment proposals received post-launch has gone up by 20 per cent.
“We are committed to ensuring investor delight and it is highly encouraging to note that within a short span of eight months, GO-SWIFT has received over 300 proposals from investors across the country,” said Industries Secretary Sanjeev Chopra.
“Due to the significant ease of application and expeditious approval process, there has been a considerable increase in the number of investors wanting to set up their businesses in the state. We will continue to raise the bar for ease of doing business and are focused on speedy implementation of investment proposals on the ground,” he added.
Some of the leading companies whose proposals were received and approved by the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority in the last eight months include Manpasand Beverages, ITC Foods, Apar Industries Ltd, Sri Malani Foams (a company from the house of Century brand of mattresses), Vedanta, Lalchand Resorts, JSW Cement, Gokul Agro and Jindal Aluminium, among others.
GO-SWIFT has been able to integrate all existing technological applications. As a result, an industrial unit can get customised information regarding incentives and requisite approvals about the proposed investment, select land, apply for single-window clearance, obtain land and other services.
Over 3,890 industries have registered themselves on GO-SWIFT so far to avail various kinds of services.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodity Market, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Investing, News, Politics
Bhubaneswar : The Odisha government on Tuesday targeted the Centre over the delay in announcement of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy and other crops for the Kharif season 2018.
Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of shedding crocodile tears for the farmers.
“The Centre generally fixes the MSP by mid-June. But, it is unfortunate that government is yet to announce the MSP of major crops till date. The farmers in Odisha are worried over the delay in MSP announcement,” said the Minister.
He said the state government, in a letter, has already recommended the Centre to fix the MSP at Rs 2,930 per quintal.
Odisha had suggested the Centre to fix the MSP of Common Grade paddy at Rs 2,930 per quintal and Grade ‘A’ paddy at Rs 2,970 per quintal. However, the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended Rs 1,745 and Rs 1,770 MSP for Common Grade and Grade A paddy respectively, he added.
Maharathy said Amit Shah, who recently visited Odisha, did not speak on MSP revision though over 60 per cent people in Odisha depend on agriculture.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Niranjan Patnaik said even though July has already begun, the Centre has not been able to announce the MSP for farmers.
He said the Centre should immediately announce one and half times of the production cost as promised by the Prime minister for the benefit of the farmers.
BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said the centre is in the process of declaring the MSP price of major crops.
“Centre has started evaluating the MSP issue, some states have sent their reports but few others are delaying it. The committee will commence its meeting soon and the MSP will be hiked as per the promise of the Prime Minister,” he added.
—IANS