Bhubaneswar: Odisha government Friday approved a policy aimed to position the state as a hub for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) by offering a comprehensive set of incentives, an official said.
A GCC is an entity established by a multinational company to centralise and perform key business functions like IT, research and development, and finance.
A state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approved a total of 12 proposals of nine departments including the Odisha Global Capability Centre (GCC) Policy 2025 here during its meeting, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja said.
The policy aims to attract leading multinational corporations to establish and expand their GCCs in the state by offering a robust ecosystem of world-class infrastructure, skilled talent, and progressive incentives, he said.
Ahuja said that Odisha, with its strategic location, improved urban infrastructure, and proactive governance, is well-positioned to become a preferred destination for GCCs.
Aligned with the state’s long-term development roadmap under ‘Viksit Odisha’ 2036 and 2047, the policy envisions attracting over Rs 1,000 crore investment with establishment of at least 5 state-of-the-art GCC hubs, starting Bhubaneswar, Cuttack-Puri-Paradip and Bargarh-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur economic regions, he stated.
The state expects to generate over 50,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities in the IT sector in coming days, he said.
The state has also decided to introduce the e-lottery system for allotment of quarries of minor minerals like stones, sand on lease in the state, Ahuja said.
This new system would expedite the allotment and operationalisation of the minor mineral sources and mitigate the supply-demand gap with reasonable cost of minor minerals, he said.
Enforcement and prevention of illegal mining have also been taken care of. Maximum rate capping provision for minor minerals is made in the rule, the chief secretary said, adding that from now, one can get lease of maximum three minor mineral quarries in a district and five in the entire state.
The government has been empowered under the new rule to take 40 per cent of a minor mineral block and sell it to the public in case of shortage so that no lease holder can have a monopoly in the market, he states.
Besides, provision for blacklisting and imposing of fine has been made in the new rules, the chief secretary informed the media.
To bring transparency in exploration and transportation of minor minerals, the state cabinet has approved Odisha Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining and Regulation of Trading, Transportation & Storage) Rules, 2025 by repealing the existing rule of 2007, he said.
The top bureaucrat said, “This would be the most advanced and IT-enabled rules for the regulation of minor minerals in the country.”
Further, the Odisha government has decided to enhance the Pre-Matric & Post Matric scholarship amounts provided to scheduled tribes and scheduled castes students under “Mukhya Mantri Medhabi Chatra Protsahan Yojana”
The scholarship amounts of SC, ST school students were increased to Rs 16,000 for a boy boarder and Rs 17,000 for a girl boarder per annum (for 10 months), respectively. Now, boys and girls receive Rs 10,500 and Rs 11,000 per year, respectively.
PTI
