Odisha Will Be Textiles Hub of East; Conducive Business Environment Attracting Apparel Industries

Bhubaneswar: A national-level Seminar on Making Odisha the Textiles Hub of the East was organized by IPICOL today at the Lok Sewa Bhavan, Bhubaneswar. Leading national and global players like Shahi Exports, Aditya Birla Fashion, Page Industries and Wild Lotus participated in the seminar and shared their experience of doing business in Odisha.

Welcoming the gathering, Hemant Sharma, Principal Secretary, Industries, highlighted the recent growth of the state primarily driven by the push towards industrial growth. He also elaborated the strong driving factors of Odisha making it the manufacturing hub of the East such as the strategic location of the state in the ASEAN region, the industrial infrastructure, highly skilled manpower and especially the proactive governance.

Stressing on the industry readiness of Odisha, Capt. Dibya Shankar Mishra, Minister, Industries, MSME, Energy & Home, Government of Odisha said, “We have more than 1.5 lakh acres of land, ready to be used by the industries coming down to Odisha. Not only in recent times, but Odisha also has a long history in textile and global trading.”

He further added, “It is in this regard that our Government has prioritized this sector and is seeking mega-investments from major textiles and apparel players. The Government of Odisha is in discussions over a special incentive package for mega investments in the Textiles and Apparel including Technical Textiles Sector. I would like to make an appeal to industry leaders across India to come and visit Odisha and we are here to support you.”

Addressing the august gathering, Upendra Prasad Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India elaborated the new schemes of the Central Government and pointed out the areas where India based industries can focus on to have a growth in this sector.

Leading national and global players like Shahi Exports, Aditya Birla Fashion, Page Industries and Wild Lotus participated in the seminar and shared their experience in the state and how factors like highly skilled manpower, proactive governance, on-time and hassle-free delivery of the promised incentives and the state-of-the infrastructure are helping them scale their businesses. They have also promised to consider Odisha for their future expansions of green field and diversification of projects.

Domain leaders including Bhilosha Industries, Vardhman textiles, Dixcy textiles, Indorama industries and Shubhalakshmi polyesters were also present at the Seminar. Among others, Debasis Sen, Director, Planning and Business Development, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Dhananjaya Srivastava, Executive Director ( Petrochemicals), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Shubha Sarma, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts Department, Government of Odisha, spoke on the occasion.