A one of its kind industrial promotion event, “Advantage Angul” is being conducted at the Angul Aluminium Park on 9^th and 10^th May 2022, together in collaboration with the Industries Department, MSME Department, Start Up – Odisha, and the District Administration Angul. This first of its kind event outside the state capital of Bhubaneswar was inaugurated today by the Chief Guest Shri Asit Kumar Tripathy, Principal Advisor to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, amid much fanfare and gaiety. The event was also graced by the distinguished presence of Shri Hemant Sharma, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, Shri Bhupendra Singh Poonia, MD IPICOL and IDCO and Shri Atul Bagai, Head- UNEP, India. The event on day-1 attracted the participation of 67 industries and over 100+ delegates. The industry stalwarts of the district included the public sector Navaratna NALCO, as well as Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and Tata Steel (BSL). The focus today was on the twin industrial pillars of the district Angul, Steel & Aluminium, exploring the scope and opportunities in the metal downstream, ancillaries, sustainable development and creation of circular economy.

Shri Siddharth Shankar Swain, Collector and District Magistrate Angul set the context and delivered the welcome address. Building upon the theme set by the collector, Shri H. Jha, Executive Director JSPL addressed the august gathering and provided a perspective on the ever-expanding Steel Sector. Further, Shri M P Mishra, Director (P&T) NALCO provided insights about the Angul Aluminium park and the availability of raw material from NALCO’s Angul Smelter facility. Extending an open invitation to the investors to invest in Odisha, Shri Hemant Sharma explained the inherent advantages that Angul has, which has coined the name “Advantage Angul”. He also extolled the benefits of putting up units in the Aluminium Park and exhorted the participants to see for themselves the world class facilities created inside the park.

Shri Bagai, expressed the importance of recycling and reuse of waste metal, thus opening new avenues available for scrap processing units in the state, there by initiating the discussion on the Circular Economy model.

The keynote address was delivered by the chief guest, Shri. Asit Kumar Tripathy, who spoke about the political and social stability in the state and also the importance of MSMEs in propelling the state’s economic growth further. Summing up the session Shri Poonia assured unstinted support and hand holding on behalf of the government to everyone interested in investing in Odisha. He also proposed the vote of thanks to the panel members, delegates, and the district administration for conceptualizing such a path-breaking session.

Post the Inaugural session, two sectoral sessions on Aluminium and Steel Sectors respectively were hosted by Shri Siddharth Shankar Swain. In the Aluminium Sector Session, senior officials from NALCO presented the opportunities in Aluminium Downstream Sector and collaboration opportunities with NALCO. Shri Bhupendra Singh Poonia delivered a detailed presentation about the Angul Aluminium Park and the best- in-class infrastructure facilities available at the location. This was followed by a Q&A session with the respected panel.

During the Steel Sector Session senior representatives from Tata Steel and JSPL presented steel sector overview and opportunities in the downstream ecosystem in Odisha. Shri Siddharth Shankar Swain delivered concluding remarks for the day followed with a vote-of-thanks to the audience, speakers and participants. The event also involved G-2-B networking meetings with interested investors.

The day-2 on 10^th May ’22 is going to be equally interesting with proposed sessions on the MSME ecosystem, sustainable development through industrialization, creation and role of circular economy, start-ups, food processing, as well as sessions on carbon trading, green industrial hubs, & green buildings. A pitching session for select start ups is also on the cards. Principal Secretary – MSME Smt. Ranjana Chopra and Director of Industries Shri. Md. Sadique Alam would be addressing the session on Day-2.