Gurugram, Oct 10 (UNI) Odisha government on Wednesday invited Delhi/NCR-based investors to explore investment opportunities in agriculture marketing in the state.
Department of Cooperation of the state government organized a Consultative Workshop on Agriculture Marketing here in association with industries partner Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in this regard.
The workshop was a curtain raiser event for the session on Agriculture Marketing during the Make in Odisha Conclave (MIO) 2018, the flagship biennial global investors’ summit, being organized by the state government in Bhubaneswar from November 11-15 this year.
The workshop was attended by over 50 investors based in Delhi-NCR who expressed their interest to explore investment opportunities in Odisha’s agriculture marketing sector. These included leading names like Maersk, Bayer, Mother Dairy, StarAgri among others.
The objective was to acquaint the participants in this sector, with the policy & regulatory environment and investment opportunities in the agriculture marketing sector in Odisha.
The workshop provided a platform to all the stakeholder groups in agribusiness and allied sectors for sharing of knowledge and focused discussion with officials of Government of Odisha.
Speaking at the workshop, State’s Cooperation Minister Surjya Narayan Patra said, Odisha has already attained self-sufficiency in food production. He said, over the last few years, the State has experienced success in terms of crop area, production, productivity, food security, irrigation, leading to a rise in farmers’ income.
“The State bagged national “Krishi Karman Award” four times consecutively between 2010-11 and 2014-15. It is also the seventh largest vegetable producing state in the country, he said.
Mr Patra said, in order to realize the goal of enhancing farmers’ income further in a sustainable manner, Odisha government is seeking private investments across a range of areas under agriculture marketing from quality infrastructure for storage, grading, sorting, packaging and trading of agricultural produce to providing ease of trade between sellers and buyers respectively.
He said, “The other focus areas include enabling hassle-free IT-based interface with Governmental setups for compliances and offering modern features such as electronic trading platforms, warehousing receipts and quality assaying facilities.”
The inaugural edition of the Make in Odisha Conclave was organized in 2016 to showcase the manufacturing prowess of the State and the investment potential in diverse sectors.
It was an overwhelming success, with announcement of investment intent to the tune of Rs 2.03 lakh crore.
Odisha government has demonstrated strong commitment to deliver projects on ground, which is reflected in the fact that out of these investment intents received, close to 65% projects are in various stages of approval and implementation.
The second edition of the biennial Make in Odisha Conclave is scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar from November 11-15, 2018.
The Conclave will be a celebration over 5 days, presenting Odisha, its potential and achievements, to the world. It will also be a platform to exchange ideas and share knowledge.
The conclave will have sector specific seminars across food processing, smart city, logistics & infrastructure, tourism, ESDM manufacturing, aerospace & defense apart from other engaging events.
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