Odisha To Expedite Reform Agenda To Attract Investments

BHUBANESWAR: After achieving the 7th position in the ease of doing business among the states, Odisha now strides ahead to be one among the first three states in the matter.

A high-level review meeting to this effect was held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi to bring more reforms that would enable the government to attract more investment to the state.

Reviewing the progress, Chief Secretary Sri Padhi directed concerned departments to expedite the implementation of remaining reform agenda.  The schedule was set against compliance to each of the action points.

The compliances to reform agenda by the departments like Commercial Tax, Energy, Labour & Employees State Insurance, Industries, Law, Revenue & Disaster Management, State Pollution Control Board, Water Resources, Housing & Urban Development were reviewed in the meeting. It was seen that in total around 70% compliance was achieved in the implementation of the reform agenda.

Some departments like Water Resources, Pollution Control Board of Forest & Environment Department, Industries and Commercial Tax have achieved more than 87% of success.

Available data shows, a total number of 340 reform points were suggested for making the process of doing business more facilitative and proactive. Out of these, 30 points were found not applicable for Odisha. So far, around 225 action points have been complied.

Chief Secretary directed the departments to expedite the implementation of remaining actionable points and ensure 100% compliance within the scheduled time frame. Many such points have been scheduled for compliance within 31st March.

It may be pertinent here to mention that recently one of the World Bank assessments has ranked Bhubaneswar as the 3rd best city in India to do the Business. This has also been reflected in the latest mobile app of Odisha New Opportunities launched by Industries Department.

It was decided at the meeting that state updates would regularly be uploaded in the central web portal on ease of doing business for reflecting Odisha’s competitive position at national level.