Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: Assocham has ranked Odisha as the third most preferred investment destination in the country after Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The industry body has said that the state has registered positive growth both in manufacturing and services sectors, contrary to the economic slowdown in India and globally.
Assocham’s Secretary General D S Rawat told reporters here on Wednesday that with a share of over seven per cent, Odisha has attracted outstanding investments worth about Rs 12 lakh crore out of the total investments worth over Rs 158 lakh crore attracted by various sectors from both public and private sources in top 21 states across India as on March 31, 2015.
Maharashtra and Gujarat remained ahead of Odisha with a share of 9.7 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively, he said.
He said Odisha ranks as the fastest growing state in attracting tourists by registering about 133 per cent jump in the last ten years.
Rawat said the study highlighted that focus on key sectors like healthcare, education, tourism, IT, mining and minerals, infrastructure, MSME, food processing, handloom, petrochemicals and bio-pharma would transform Odisha’s economy.
Odisha…has significant potential to emerge as the most lucrative state for domestic and global investors, trade and industry, provided it undertakes further initiatives to facilitate ease of doing business, Rawat said.