Odisha included in the East Cost Economic Corridor

Bhubaneswar,
Nov 18: Odisha has been included in the East Cost Economic Corridor (ECEC)
proposed to be implemented under the joint aegis of the Central and State
Governments and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

The
subject was discussed at a high-level meeting between senior State officials
and an ADB team held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Parsad
Padhi at the State Secretariat here on Friday.

The
India Resident Mission of the ADB made a presentation in this regard, following
which the proposal for inclusion of Odisha in the ECEC and the action plan to
carry forward the project was discussed.

Padhi
advised to make a perspective plan of the State Government compatible with the
Odisha Vision 2036 Document. The State Government has already initiated the
Vision-2036 keeping in view completion of the 100th year of formation of the
State in 2036.

It
was decided that the Industries Principal Secretary and the Idco CMD would be
the nodal officers for the project and the Industries Department would be the
nodal department. The corridor would link Odisha with the Global Industrial
Corridor and the Global Value Chain.

The
presentation made by the ADB team showed that the project would be India’s
first coastal corridor. It would cover approximately 1,700 km of coastal line
and connect six Major Ports and three deepest draught ports in the country.

The
corridor would also connect minerals-rich hinterland having 86 per cent of coal
reserves, 82 per cent of iron reserves, 70 per cent of bauxite reserves and 40
per cent of natural gas reserves. It is aimed at boosting the State’s
industrial activities, more particularly in the areas of auto, electronics,
petro chemicals, petroleum, iron, steel, food processing, textiles, naval
shipyards, defence and space exploration. The project would have two basic
dimensions, viz., investments for infrastructure development and investments
for node-centric development. 

As
way forward,  it was decided at the
meeting that the ADB technical teams would make assessment of the extent of
land availability, clearance from coastal areas, flood line, forest area, other
restricted areas, connectivity with highways, rail net work, proximity to ports
and airports, availability of utilities like power and water, proximity to
existing industrial agglomerations, proximity to urban centers, availability
of  housing and service ecosystem in
urban centres, availability of skilled manpower supply, presence of skill
development training and incubation facilities, etc. 

A
target was set to prepare a Conceptual Development Plan in the first Stage by
March 2017.