Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mohan Majhi, has been in office for eight months now. Despite tall claims and expensive events, his government appears to have little to show in the field of achievements.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) and Make-in-Odisha-Utkarsh Odisha conclave, which was conceptualised by the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government and rebranded by the Majhi regime, appeared to be part of the BJP’s image-building exercise in Odisha. The party has come to power in the state after a long struggle including a phase during which it played second fiddle to the BJD as its coalition partner for nine years.
Bhubaneswar hosted the 18th PBD from January 8 to 10. If sources are to be believed an estimated amount of Rs 120 crore was spent on organising the event inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has visited the state multiple times. The amount is believed to have been shared by the state government and the Ministry of External Affairs.
On the occasion of PBD 2025, Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, creating a new milestone in connecting Indians across the world.#PBD2025 #PravasiBharatiyaDivas pic.twitter.com/0sUXGmBz6p
— I & PR Department, Odisha (@IPR_Odisha) January 9, 2025
MoUs galore
The apparent purpose of organising the event was to showcase Odisha’s tourism and business potential apart from its art and culture before Indians residing abroad so that they could be lured to invest in the state. At the end of the PBD, chief minister Majhi said that his government had sanctioned investments worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore while proposals to the tune of Rs 5 lakh crore would follow later. He may have been hinting at the Make In Odisha Utkarsh Odisha conclave that was held in the state capital on January 28 and 29 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi doing the honours at the inaugural ceremony once again.
The latest edition of the biennial conclave that began in 2016 under former chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the Majhi regime rebranding it was hailed as a success. Majhi claimed that the event had set a new benchmark by securing investment proposals worth a staggering Rs 16.73 lakh crore across sectors including chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles, mining and metallurgy, renewable energy, IT/ITeS, tourism and food processing. In addition to the MoUs signed, the state government claimed to have received 448 investment intents with an investment value of Rs 3.84 lakh crore and the potential to generate 3.92 lakh jobs. The overall impression created was that the conclave was a massive success and Odisha, now a major global investment destination.
However, industry leaders as well as opposition parties have their own doubts. Sanjay Patnaik, former chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Odisha chapter, said there is almost always a huge gap between investment proposals received and projects actually grounded. “Less than 10% of these proposals actually materialise. Ideally before organising a new edition of the summit the government should tell people how many proposals received during the previous edition were actually grounded. This will help create awareness. There is no denying that Odisha has made a lot of progress in the last few decades in the field of industry but a lot remains to be done,” said Patnaik.
Withdrawals
The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government, which was in power in the state from 2000 to 2024, saw the withdrawal of two major steel projects at the height of Patnaik’s regime when he was presumed to be capable of achieving almost anything.
While POSCO’s 12 million tonne proposed steel mill in Jagatsinghpur district worth Rs 51,000 crore was then hailed as India’s biggest foreign direct investment (FDI), ArcelorMittal’s Rs 50,000 crore project in Keonjhar district was almost equally big. Mittal first pulled out in 2013 following land acquisition problems and POSCO followed four years later citing identical reasons. This constituted the biggest setback to BJD government’s industrialisation drive, which had always served as a major poll plank for the party. “The experience of the past bears out the truth of the saying that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. This government should stop counting its chickens before they hatch,” said BJD MLA Byomkesh Ray.
Veteran CPI(M) leader Laxman Munda said that while the BJP government was making big claims about having drawn investment proposals worth crores, translating these offers into reality would be a difficult task. “Ever since coming to power this government has been busy in image building by spending crores of rupees. However, there has so far been no qualitative change in the lives of the poor. Development has come to a halt. I wonder what the government is going to gain by having spent so much on the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. They are surviving on gimmickry. The previous government was much better,” said Munda adding that BJP cannot hope to gain much by merely changing names of the schemes launched by the Naveen Patnaik government. “They cannot hoodwink people like this. People will look for results,” remarked the MLA.
Good scheme, bad scheme
Accusing the Majhi regime of trying to take credit for the good work done by the Naveen Patnaik government, BJD’s Gautam Buddha Das said, “They have renamed our ‘Ama Odisha, Naveen Odisha’ (AONO) as ‘Viksit Gaon, Viksit Odisha’ but the allocation being made by them to the panchayats under this scheme is much less than what we gave. They don’t even know how to run a good scheme and how to disburse funds for a good cause. All that they have done so far since coming to power is enact stunts like opening all the four doors of Puri Jagannath temple and allowing the entry of journalists into the secretariat. These are nothing more than administrative decisions.”
However, BJP MLA Akash Das Nayak stoutly defended the government asserting that having come to power with the blessings of the people it was committed to the development of the state. “I am confident that most of the investment proposals received during Utkarsh Odisha will be realised because this government’s intention is good and it is working sincerely to take the state forward. Equally important is the fact that it enjoys full support of the government at the Centre. The double engine will accelerate the state’s growth,” remarked Nayak who switched over to the BJP from BJD ahead of the last elections.
