Kolkata-Vizag Industrial Corridor To Pass Through Odisha : Nirmala Sitharaman
24 May, Bhubaneswar
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman Sunday said the Kolkata-Vizag industrial corridor would pass through Odisha and the state could not be left out.
Ms Sitharaman denied BJD’s allegation that the Union government was neglecting Odisha and the state was not included in any one of the proposed industrial corridor.
The Union Minister who came here to attend the media workshop organised by the BJP, said anyone making such allegations should do their homework and not follow the Congress.They should make the allegations with fact and figure and not make general allegations.
A few days back Odisha Food Supply Minister Sanjay Das Burma and also the secretary of the Biju Yuva Janata Dal, the youth wing of the ruling BJD in the state, had alleged that the Centre was neglecting the state and Odisha did not figure in any of the industrial corridors.
He also alleged discrimination in allocation of central funds to the state. Ms Sitharaman said her first meeting on industry and MSME was held in Odisha and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had attended it. She asked how could the state be ignored where 40 per cent of the GSDP was coming from industry.
The union minister said the fund allocation was made by the Finance Commission by rationalising some schemes after consulting with the state governments.
Some programmes and projects were rationalised as funds were not utilised. The Niti Ayog was grouping states considering the geographical positions and issues particularly relevant to them.The states, she said, should chalk out their plans according to their needs and should not expect the Centre to plan for them.
Ms Sitharaman said Odisha will get Rs 1,12,677 crore in next five years and Rs 8,231 crore this year. In the Railway budget, the state got the highest ever allocation of Rs 2,514 crore and Rs 50 crore for Nabakalebar.In the e-auction of minerals, the state would get Rs two lakh crore in 20 years.
The state was also allocated a super Speciality hospital at Rourkela, an IIM and an IISER she said and questioned will these allocations reflect central negligence as alleged by the ruling BJD