Bhubaneswar, Sept 21: The country’s largest engineering cluster will be set up at Choudwar in the Cuttack district of Odisha.

The Indranipatna Industrial Area has been selected for the location of the proposed project which will work as a common facility center for engineering-based units. The project will be completed by March 2023. Now the shed construction and fabrication work are going on.

An estimated Rs 32 crore will be spent on the cluster. While the Centre will provide Rs 18 crore, the Odisha government will invest Rs 7.19 crore and the contribution of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be Rs Rs 7 crore.

According to government sources, the proposed cluster will have the latest machinery, computer numeric control (CNC) tools, and equipment worth Rs 24 crore for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.

It will also support entrepreneurs and startups in the field of defense, aerospace, oil, and natural gas.

There will be 136 cluster members and 66 SPV members. Secretary General of Odisha Assembly of Small and Medium Enterprises (OASME) Satwik Swain said the project will help MSMEs and develop an eco-system.

The project was first proposed in 2018. However, it was delayed due to the Covid pandemic.