Reported by Chinmaya Dehury

Bhubaneswar, Aug 22:

Union minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman today said she would examine the request of the Odisha government for according in-principle approval for establishment of the National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in the state at Kalinganagar.

Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman

Odisha Industry minister Devi Prasad Mishra had urged the Union minister to consider the proposal of the state government to set up NIMZ in the state.

“The minister has placed a request to set up NIMZ in the state. I will check the papers and follow it up,” said the Commerce minister speaking to media persons after addressing a national symposium on ‘Manufacturing and Best practices to improve the business environment' here today.

Kalinganagar in Jajpur district is touted as the emerging steel hub of the country with a large concentration of industrial units both by public and private sector entities. Land procurement for the proposed mega industrial zone will be done by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO).

“IDCO is under possession of 5,811 hectares (ha) of land at Kalinganagar. The process of engagement of a consultant for preparing a techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR) and master plan for the NIMZ has been initiated. In the above context, it is requested to grant in-principle approval at an early date, enabling IDCO to undertake the project activities within the time frame,” IDCO's chairman and managing director (CMD) Vishal Dev had said in aletter written to Talleen Kumar, joint secretary, DIPP, recently.

The NIMZs are proposed to be self-governing and autonomous bodies under Article 243 (Q-c) of the Constitution and managed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) headed by government officials.

The Centre will provide financial support for trunk infrastructure while internal infrastructure will be developed on public private partnership (PPP) mode for which access to Viability Gap Funding (VGF) would be provided.

The NIMZs would be a combination of production units, public utilities, logistics, environmental protection mechanism, residential areas and administrative services.