Bhubaneswar: In mega investment conclaves, Governments all over go for mega HEADLINE numbers.
With the State’s Make in Odisha 4.0 or Utkarsh Odisha just 72 hrs away, the Mohan Majhi led BJP government has gone into the number game as the State High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) has approved Rs 32,376 cr industrial investments.
The clearance of investment proposals show the Odisha govt looking for mega Headline numbers in the Make In Odisha 4.0.
MAKE IN ODISHA HEADLINE NUMBERS OVER YEARS
Taking cue from Modi govt’s Make in India scheme, the Naveen Patnaik led BJD govt hosted the first Make in Odisha conclave since 2016. Here is an outlook on the HEADLINE numbers, the business conclaves grabbed.
- Make in Odisha 1.0 – Rs 2.03 Lakh Cr (2016)
- Make In Odisha 2.0 – Rs 4.19 Lakh cr (2018)
- Make in Odisha 3.0 – Rs 10.5 Lakh Cr (2022)
- TOTAL - 16.27cr
A REALITY CHECK
- In 2016, investment intentions made stood at Rs 2.03 lakh cr in the conclave
- But the actual commitments in the year had boiled down to mere Rs 22,507 cr.
- In 2018 MIO, the investment intentions totalled to a whopping Rs 4.19 lakh cr
- But the actual investment commitments made at the year totalled to mere Rs 15,917.
- In the 2022 MIO, the investments announced summed up to a HEADLINE number of Rs 10.5lakh cr
- But at the year end, the actual commitments made stood out at Rs 2.1lakh cr
- The TOTAL investment intentions made in Odisha, therefore, totalled to Rs 2.48 lakh cr
The above reality-check shows how the MIO numbers fall by a wide variance from the actual commitments, but a BIGGER STORY lies below.
INVESTMENT COMMITMENTS VS ACTUAL INFLOW
A glance at the above comparison of the amount of investment intentions promised at the Summit versus the reality at the end of the year has been summarised.
But the big story is how much of the investments promised at the end of the year did turn to be the actual investment inflow in to the State. Have a glance below.
- 2016 Actual investment inflow stood at – Rs 769 cr
- 2018 Actual investment inflow stood at – Rs 3808cr
- 2022 Actual investment inflow stood at – Rs 37, 266 cr
- If the Actual inflow in the follow up year i.e, 2023 is taken into account,
- 2023 Actual inflow stood at – Rs 25,138cr.
- Since 2016, the actual industrial investment, Odisha has received till 2023 stood at around Rs 1.853 Lakh cr
- As per the data available, the total investment intentions made to Odisha since 2016 stood at around Rs 6.42 lakh cr; when the Make in Odisha intentions were stood at a wide variance of Rs 16.27lakh cr.
- However, the real investments that tricked down to the State stood at mere Rs1.853 lakh cr.
If a look at the investment intentions versus actual inflow made, then the ratio of actual investment to commitments stood at mere 28% .
THE IMPORT
The big ratio underlined above shows that Odisha could implement not even one-third of the investment commitments made by the private industries since 2016. This poor rate of implementation lead to poor outflow of benefits to the people of the State via poor job creation, which in turn lead to anti industry sentiments in the State. And the State had seen how protests had put many projects on the backburner.
WHAT LOOKS PROMISING AHEAD OF UTKARSH ODISHA?
As per the data available with the Odisha govt, the investment commitments made to Odisha in Jan –July 2024 stood at Rs 67,260cr.
The data available shows that actual investment inflow or in simpler terms, grounding of the projects started in the State during period Jan – July 2024 stood at Rs 42,610cr.
The above number looks very encouraging as the rate of translation – means the ratio of projects implemented on ground and commitments made stood at a whopping 63%.
However, the caution here is, the reference period here has been smaller. But if the Mohan Majhi led BJP govt believes in bringing mega investments for job creation, the govt has to keep the ratio healthier.