Bhubaneswar, Dec 20 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday sought the support of the Central government on various crucial projects to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to turn the eastern state into the growth engine of the country.
During his speech in the Pre-Budget Consultation meeting of the Union Finance Minister at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, CM Majhi on Friday said that PM Modi has stated that Odisha will be the growth engine of the country in coming years. He said that the state needs the support of the Union government for some very crucial projects to implement the Prime Minister’s vision.
CM Majhi sought the Centre’s support to speed up large-scale infrastructure projects such as Industrial Parks and Corridors, Electricity Grids, Railway Infrastructure, Ports and Airports, Central Projects like Sagarmala Project, East Coast Economic Corridor and National Waterway-5, introduction of a dedicated central scheme under the visionary ‘Purvodaya’ initiative to support critical infrastructure development in eastern states.
He also demanded for the establishment of a Rare Earths Complex in Odisha financial support for the industrialization in aspirational districts.
CM Majhi raised the issue of allocation of funds under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SACI), 2024-25. He said that the allocation under SACI in the Union Budget 2024-25, has been enhanced to Rs 1.50 lakh crore, which has benefited all States including Odisha.
“However, the untied allocation under Part-I of SACI, 2024-25 constitute only 37 percent of total allocation and the balance 63 percent is linked to sectoral reforms. Hence, in order to have predictability of fund flow and enhanced utilization for CAPEX, it is requested to allocate at least 60 per cent of the total allocation under SACI, 2025-26 under untied Part-I while allocating remaining funds for sectoral reforms,” said CM Majhi.
The Chief Minister also requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to consider launching a new scheme for supporting urbanisation of states like Odisha.
He also demanded that new industrial townships may be sanctioned for Gopalpur (Salt Pan Land) and Jharsuguda to accelerate economic growth in southern and western Odisha respectively.
“I am grateful to the Union Finance Minister for making a special mention about Odisha tourism’s potential in last year’s budget speech. We need about Rs 10,000 crore of investment to create world-class tourism infrastructure across the state. I request the Government of India to announce a special package for development of tourism in Odisha in the budget of FY 2025-26,” added CM Majhi.
He also requested the Finance Minister to include 11 uncovered blocks of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts under Aspirational Blocks programme in addition to the 29 blocks approved earlier.
–IANS
gyan/pgh