Jail Jagannath!

Odisha Governor Shri Hari Babu, the popular Chief Minister of this place Shri Mohan Charan Majhi ji, my fellow ministers of the Union Cabinet, ministers of the Odisha government, MPs, MLAs, leading entrepreneurs from the industry and business world, investors from the country and the world, and my dear brothers and sisters of Odisha are present at the programme! 

This is my second visit to Odisha in the month of January, that is, in the beginning of 2025. Just a few days ago, I was a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event here. Now today, I have come here among you in the Utkarsh Odisha Conclave. I have been told that this is the biggest business summit ever held in Odisha. 5-6 times more investors are participating in it than before. I congratulate the people of Odisha, the Odisha government, for this wonderful event. I welcome all of you to this event.

Friends,

I consider eastern India to be the growth engine of the country's development. And Odisha has a major role in it. History is witness to the fact that when India had a major share in global growth, eastern India had a significant contribution. Eastern India had major industrial hubs, ports, trade hubs, and Odisha also had a major share in it. Odisha used to be the main centre of trade in SouthEast Asia. The ancient ports here were, in a way, gateways to India. Even today, Bali Jatra is celebrated every year in Odisha. Recently, the President of Indonesia came and he even said that perhaps Odisha is in my DNA.

Friends,

This Odisha celebrates the legacy that connects Odisha with South East Asia. Now in the 21st century, Odisha is engaged in reviving its glorious heritage. Recently, the President of Singapore visited Odisha. Singapore is very excited about relations with Odisha. ASEAN countries have also shown interest in strengthening the connection of trade and tradition with Odisha. Today, so many doors of possibilities are opening in this region, as never before after independence. I would like to appeal to every investor present here, and I would like to repeat what our Chief Minister said - this is the time, the right time. Your investment in this development journey of Odisha will take you to new heights of success, and this is Modi's guarantee.  

Friends,

Today, India is moving on such a path of development, which is being driven by the aspirations of crores of people. This is the era of AI. Artificial intelligence is being discussed, but for India, it is not just AI, it is the Aspiration of India, our strength. And aspirations grow when the needs of the people are fulfilled. Today, the country is seeing the benefits of empowering crores of countrymen in the last decade. Odisha also represents this aspiration. Odisha is outstanding. Odisha is a symbol of the optimism and originality of the new India. There are opportunities in Odisha, and the people here have always shown the passion to outperform. I have personally experienced the skills, hard work and honesty of the colleagues coming from Odisha in Gujarat. Therefore, today when new opportunities are being created in Odisha, I firmly believe that Odisha will very soon reach such heights of development, which no one has even imagined. I am happy that the entire team of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ji is engaged in accelerating the development of Odisha. Odisha is becoming one of the leading states in India in every industry like food processing, petrochemical, port led development, fisheries, IT, edutech, textile, tourism, mining, green energy.

Friends,

Today, India is moving at a very fast pace towards becoming the third largest economy in the world. The milestone of a five trillion dollar economy is also not far away. In the last decade, India's strength has started to emerge in manufacturing as well. Now there are two major pillars for the expansion of India's economy, one is our innovative service sector and the other is India's quality products. The country's rapid progress is not possible only on the export of raw material. That is why we are changing the entire ecosystem, working with a new vision. The trend of minerals being extracted from here and then exported to some country in the world, value addition taking place there, a new product being made, and then that product coming back to India is not acceptable to Modi. India is now changing this trend. Sea food is extracted from the sea here and then processed in some other country of the world and reaches the markets. India is also changing this trend. Our government is working in the direction that industries related to the resources available in Odisha should also be set up here. Today's Utkarsh Odisha Conclave is also a medium to realise this vision.  

Friends,

Today the world is talking about sustainable lifestyle, moving towards a green future. Today the possibilities of green jobs are also increasing a lot. We have to change ourselves according to the needs and demands of the time, we have to adapt accordingly. With this thinking, India is focusing so much on a green future, green tech. Be it solar, wind, hydro, green hydrogen, these are going to power the energy security of developed India. There are many possibilities for this in Odisha. Today in the country, we have started the Green Hydrogen Mission and Solar Power Mission at the national level. In Odisha too, big policy decisions are being made to promote the renewable energy related industry, many steps are also being taken here for the production of hydrogen energy.

Friends,

Along with green energy, initiatives are also being taken to expand the petrochemical and petrochemical sectors in Odisha. In Paradip and Gopalpur, dedicated industrial parks and investment regions are being developed. There is a lot of potential for investment in this sector as well. I would like to congratulate the Odisha government that, looking at the potential of different regions of Odisha, it is taking quick decisions and developing a new ecosystem.

Friends,

For 21st century India, this is the era of connected infrastructure, multi-modal connectivity. The scale and speed at which specialized infrastructure is being built in India today is making India a great destination for investment. East and West coastlines are being connected through dedicated freight corridors. A large part of the country which was land-locked is now getting fast access to the sea. Today, dozens of such industrial cities are being built in the country, which will be equipped with plug and play facilities. Similar possibilities are being enhanced in Odisha as well. Projects worth thousands of crores of rupees related to railway and highway network are underway here. To reduce the logistics cost of industry in Odisha, the government is connecting the ports here to industrial clusters. Along with the expansion of old ports, new ports are also being built here. That is, Odisha is going to be included in the top states of the country in terms of blue economy as well.

Friends,

Amidst these efforts of the government, I have some requests for all of you. You are seeing the challenges related to the global supply chain in this fast-changing world. India cannot rely much on a fragmented supply chain and import-based supply chain. We have to create a strong supply and value chain in India itself, which is least affected by global fluctuations. This is a huge responsibility of the government as well as the industry. Therefore, whatever industry you are in, support the MSMEs associated with it, do their hand-holding. You should also support as many young start-ups as possible.

Friends,

Today, no industry can grow without new technology. In such a situation, research and innovation are very important. The government is creating a very vibrant ecosystem related to research in the country. A special fund has also been created for this. A special package has been announced for internship and skill development. In this too, everyone expects that the industry should come forward openly and work together with the government. The bigger and better India's research ecosystem, the skilled young pool, our industry will directly benefit from it. I would like to request all the colleagues from the industry and the Odisha government to together create a modern ecosystem here. An ecosystem that works with the aspirations of Odisha, gives new opportunities to the youth here. With this, the youth of Odisha will get more and more job opportunities here itself, Odisha will prosper, Odisha will be empowered, Odisha will prosper.

Friends,

All of you travel around the world, meet people from all over the world. Today, you can feel the eagerness to know and understand India everywhere. Odisha is a great destination to understand India. Here, we have our heritage of thousands of years, history, faith-spirituality, dense forests, mountains, sea, everything is visible at one place. This state is a wonderful model of development and heritage. With this feeling, we had organized cultural events of G-20 in Odisha. We had made the cycle of Konark Sun Temple a part of the main event of G-20. In Utkarsh Odisha, we also have to explore the tourism potential of Odisha. It's more than 500 km long coastline, more than 33 percent forest cover, endless possibilities of eco-tourism, adventure tourism are waiting for you. Today, India's focus is - Wed in India, today India's mantra is - Heal in India, and for this, the nature of Odisha, its natural beauty, is very helpful.

Friends, 

Today, conference tourism is also developing a lot of potential in India. Venues like Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi in Delhi are becoming major centres for this. Bhubaneswar can also benefit from a very good convention centre. Another new sector related to this is the concert economy. In a country which has such a rich heritage of music-dance, storytelling, where there is such a large pool of youth who are a huge consumer of concerts, there are many possibilities for the concert economy. You are seeing that in the last 10 years, both the trend and demand for live events have increased. In the last few days, you must have seen the wonderful pictures of the 'Coldplay concert' held in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. This is a proof of how much scope there is in India for live concerts. Big artists of the world, even big artists, are getting attracted towards India. Concert economy also increases tourism and creates a large number of jobs. I urge the states and the private sector to focus on the necessary infrastructure and skills for the concert economy. Be it event management, grooming of artists, security and other arrangements, new possibilities are being created in all these.

Friends,

Next month, the first world audio visual summit i.e. WAVES is going to be held in India. This will also be a very big event, it will give a new identity to India's creative power in the world. The revenue generated from such events in the states, the perception created, also takes the economy forward. And there are many possibilities of this in Odisha too.

Friends,

Odisha has a big role in building a developed India. The people of Odisha have taken a pledge to build a prosperous Odisha. To achieve this pledge, the Central Government is providing all possible support. You all know my affection for Odisha very well. As the Prime Minister, I have come here almost 30 times. I have come to Odisha more times than all the Prime Ministers put together since independence, this is your love. I have visited most of the districts here, I have faith in the potential of Odisha, I have faith in the people here. I am confident that the investment of all of you will take your business and the progress of Odisha to new heights. 

I once again congratulate the people of Odisha and the Government of Odisha for this wonderful event, thank you very much. And I assure those great people who are looking for possibilities in Odisha, the Government of Odisha and the Government of India stand with you with full strength. Once again, my best wishes to all of you, thank you very much.

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

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MJPS/VJ