Bhubaneswar: As Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik began his Japan tour to woo investors, the opposition Congress on Tuesday alleged that the state government has “failed to attract adequate foreign direct investments” even after spending a lot of taxpayers’ money for the purpose.
In a press conference here, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattnayak claimed that there are “no satisfactory results” from state delegations’ foreign tours.
Senior Congress leader and former chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, who was also present at the press meet, pointed out that “Odisha has received only five FDI worth Rs 1,386.54 crore between 2016 and 2022 according to RTI data”.
The chief minister had taken delegations to countries like Italy, United Arab Emirates and now, he is in Japan seeking FDI, he said.
“We hope that they return safely but do not expect any satisfactory investment from the land of the rising sun,” Patnaik, also a former close aide of the CM, said.
However, Odisha’s industries minister P K Deb had in the assembly said that the state has attracted Rs 22,000 crore after the chief minister’s Dubai visit in June 2022.
“The amount spent in holding conclaves, road shows and meetings in different countries and also in India hardly gives any return to the state. The flow of investment from abroad is very low. The government failed to attract adequate foreign direct investments,” Patnaik told reporters.
OPCC president said Odisha is “lagging behind other states” in the country in attracting FDIs despite the CM’s visits to foreign countries.
Claiming that the state government spent Rs 20.79 crore and Rs 34.51 crore in holding the ‘Make In Odisha’ conclave in 2016 and 2018 respectively, Patnaik said, “Such mega events did not pay satisfactory return”.
The money spent in 2022 to host the conclave is yet to be announced by the government, he said, adding that “though crores of rupees were spent, no significant investment in Odisha has been seen”.
According to the state government data, Odisha had received 84 investment proposals worth Rs 2.03 lakh crore with potential employment to over 80,000 people in the 2016 business conclave.
The state government got 202 investment proposals worth Rs 4.13 crore in the summit two years later, and the employment potential was more than 2.41 lakh.
“Has the state government ever reviewed the actual employment generation following the business conclaves,” the Congress leader asked.
The former top bureaucrat said the government claimed to have attracted nearly Rs 16 lakh crore as investment proposals from within the country and abroad.
“However, the exact figure of investment on the ground is yet to be announced,” he said.
The Congress leader also pointed out that lakhs of workers from Odisha are “migrating to other states for work at a time when the government has been claiming to have provided employment to many people”.
“This is misleading,” he said.
Responding to the Congress allegations, BJD vice-president and MLA S R Patnaik said the senior Congress leader should first reveal the achievements when he had served the state as a top bureaucrat.
“Patnaik held important positions in the state government. Apart from being the principal secretary to the chief minister, he was also the chief secretary. Therefore, he should first tell about the achievements during his tenure as the top bureaucrat before raising questions over the present situation,” the BJD leader added.
PTI