Bhubaneswar: The much-awaited air cargo services will commence from Bhubaneswar airport by September this year, informed MSME Principal Secretary Saswat Mishra.

The infrastructure development work is in progress, and it will be completed soon. After completion of construction work, the authorities of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security will visit the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar to review arrangement for operations of cargo services. The facilities to facilitate hassle-free export of goods from the state to other parts of the world will begin by September, he said gracing a programme organised by World Trade Centre on Friday in Bhubaneswar.

He said that the IndiGo cargo has been approached to facilitate air cargo services at the BPIA, Bhubaneswar. A meeting will be held with the company's officials and exporters from the state in the coming days. Similarly, there is a plan to start container cargo service from Paradip port due to weak transportation through containers. A meeting in this regard will be held on August 4. If needed, small ships will be loaded on to large ships at Vizag carrying supplies from Paradip port.

Speaking on the occasion, Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that the target has been set to take the country's exports to 2 lakh crore USD by 2023. To achieve that goal, goods and services exports will have to reach upto 1 lakh crore USD for which the exports will have to be increased at rate of 12% per annum. Similarly, services exports will have to grow at 16.5% per annum to reach 1 lakh crore USD.

He said that emerging sectors such as electronics and renewable energy will go a long way in achieving the export target set by the Government.

Odisha needs more investment in pharmaceutical and plastic sectors, he said.