The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
ANGUL, MAY 9, 2022
A one of its kind industrial promotion event, “Advantage Angul” is being conducted at the Angul Aluminium Park on 9th and 10th May 2022, in joint collaboration by the Industries Department, MSME Department, Start Up–Odisha, and the District Administration Angul. This first of its kind event outside the state capital was inaugurated today by Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister and WODC Chairman Asit Kumar Tripathy amid much fanfare and gaiety.
The event was also graced by the distinguished presence of Industries Department Principal Secretary Hemant Sharma, IPICOL and IDCO Managing Director Bhupendra Singh Poonia, and UNEP-India Head Atul Bagai.
The event on day-1 attracted the participation of 67 industries and over 100+ delegates. The industry stalwarts of the district included the public sector Navaratna NALCO, as well as Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and Tata Steel (BSL).
The focus today was on the twin industrial pillars of the district Angul, Steel & Aluminium, exploring the scope and opportunities in the metal downstream, ancillaries, sustainable development and creation of circular economy.
Angul District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain set the context and delivered the welcome address. Building upon the theme set by Collector Swain,
JSPL Executive Director H. Jha addressed the gathering and provided a perspective on the ever-expanding Steel Sector.
Further, NALCO Director (P&T) M P Mishra, provided insights about the Angul Aluminium park and the availability of raw material from NALCO’s Angul Smelter facility.
Extending an open invitation to the investors to invest in Odisha, Hemant Sharma explained the inherent advantages that Angul has, which has coined the name “Advantage Angul”. He also extolled the benefits of putting up units in the Aluminium Park and exhorted the participants to see for themselves the world class facilities created inside the park.
Bagai expressed the importance of recycling and reuse of waste metal, thus opening new avenues available for scrap processing units in the state, there by initiating the discussion on the Circular Economy model.
The keynote address was delivered by the chief guest, Asit Kumar Tripathy, who spoke about the political and social stability in the state and also the importance of MSMEs in propelling the state’s economic growth further.
Summing up the session Poonia assured unstinted support and hand holding on behalf of the government to everyone interested in investing in Odisha. He also proposed the vote of thanks to the panel members, delegates, and the district administration for conceptualizing such a path breaking session.
Post the inaugural session, two sectoral sessions on Aluminium and Steel Sectors respectively were hosted by Siddharth Shankar Swain. In the Aluminium Sector Session, senior officials from NALCO presented the opportunities in Aluminium Downstream Sector and collaboration opportunities with NALCO. Bhupendra Singh Poonia delivered a detailed presentation about the Angul Aluminium Park and the best-in-class infrastructure facilities available at the location. This was followed by a Q&A session with the respected panel.
During the Steel Sector Session senior representatives from Tata Steel and JSPL presented steel sector overview and opportunities in the downstream ecosystem in Odisha. Siddharth Shankar Swain delivered concluding remarks. The event also involved G-2-B networking meetings with interested investors.
The day-2 on 10th May ’22 is going to be equally interesting with proposed sessions on the MSME ecosystem, sustainable development through industrialization, creation and role of circular economy, start-ups, food processing, as well as sessions on carbon trading, green industrial hubs, & green buildings. A pitching session for select start ups is also on the cards. Principal Secretary – MSME Ranjana Chopra and Director of Industries Md. Sadique Alam would be addressing the session on Day-2.
