Paradip: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accord special category status to Orissa and increase the allocation for the state in the railway budget.
The demand for special category status for the state has been raised time and again by the BJD.
“One of the main challenges that often derails our growth is our frequent exposure to natural calamities. Almost every alternate year, our state faces a serious natural calamity. It is in this context that I sincerely request the respected Prime Minister to confer special category status on Orissa so that we can further fasttrack our growth,” Patnaik said at the inauguration of IOCL’s Paradip refinery.
The Chief Minister also demanded the extension of the proposed Chennai-Vizag industrial corridor up to Orissa.
Patnaik thanked the Union government for its contribution towards Orissa in last year’s railway budget and said he hoped the trend would continue.
The state government has been supporting the refinery project and has extended various benefits, including the exemption of entry tax and deferment of sales tax, he said.
“Benefits will flow to the people only when ancillary and downstream industries come up in the region. For this, the commitment of IOCL to make adequate petrochemical feedstock available is critical,” the Chief Minister pointed out.
Patnaik hoped that Paradip would emerge as the “industrial capital” of eastern India and said the refinery will revolutionise the energy scenario in the entire region.
“I congratulate Indian Oil Corporation for setting up this state-of-the-art refinery in Paradip, which will go a long way in revolutionising the entire region’s energy scenario,” he said.
The Chief Minister pointed out to the Prime Minister that IOCL had announced four projects in 2014 out of which work on one project had started. “IOCL should also start work on the other three projects,” he said.
Patnaik also recalled the contribution of his legendary father Biju Patnaik towards the development of Paradip and the industrialisation of the state. PNN
