Bhubaneswar, Sep 13 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday said his business trip to the UAE has opened avenues for huge FDI for the state, as he termed the government’s investor outreach programme there a “huge success”.
According to the Odisha government, it has secured investment proposals worth over Rs 2.43 lakh crore across various sectors during its three-day outreach programme in the United Arab Emirates.
However, the opposition BJD and the Congress rejected the state government’s claim and termed the chief minister’s investor outreach programme as a “publicity stunt to mislead people”.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das said, “The CM’s claim on securing investment proposals worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore in the UAE and creation of 6-9 lakh jobs were grossly exaggerated and completely baseless.” BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty, in a press conference, alleged that the chief minister’s UAE visit is all about publicity.
“We doubt the UAE visit results when the outcome of the Singapore tour was zero. Please do not waste public money from the state exchequer on false advertisements. Investment on the ground is zero in two-and-a-half years,” Mohanty said.
Odisha Industries Minister Sampad Chandra Swain rejected the opposition allegation and claimed that what the “BJP government has achieved in just two-and-a-half years, the BJD failed to do in 10 years”.
“During the last two years, projects worth Rs 3.20 lakh have been grounded and some have been inaugurated. The opposition is ignorant about the success,” he said.
In the history of Odisha business, no government had ever attracted so much foreign direct investment (FDI) as the BJP has, the minister said, adding, “The UAE investors outreach was a huge success”.
The state’s outreach initiative to the West Asian country, led by Majhi, yielded 24 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and investment intents, following 32 one-to-one investor meetings and round-table engagements in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Upon his arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here, Majhi said, “Earlier, the state government had signed an MoU with IHC-Adani Group for investment of USD 11.5 million in Odisha. During this trip, it has raised the investment amount to USD 22.13 million for the proposed integrated aluminium project in the state.” Majhi said the state has also signed an agreement for FDI with Intel and a Japanese firm.
“In May 2026, the state government signed a USD 3.3 billion MoU with Intel Corporation and US-based 3D Glass Solutions (3DGS) to set up an advanced packaging glass core substrate manufacturing facility in the state,” an official said.
Apart from this, in July this year, the Odisha government signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with the ACME Group and Japan’s IHI Corporation for a proposed investment of Rs 67,000 crore, aimed at accelerating technology transfer and green industrialisation.
Majhi said that during the UAE visit, some investors from Jordan and Oman have also been contacted and they too have shown interest in investing in the state.
However, there is no formal agreement with them, the chief minister said.
Buoyed by the “huge success” of the UAE trip, Majhi said his government was taking measures to diversify from an agro-based economy to achieve the ambitious target of a USD 500 billion economy by 2036, when the state will complete 100 years of its formation.
The proposed projects are expected to generate direct employment for more than 6.18 lakh people in Odisha, the chief minister said.
“To get maximum investment, we are utilising our political and administrative powers. This resulted in attracting investment worth over Rs 2.43 lakh crore during the UAE visit. It will strengthen our economy and provide employment to our youth,” he said.
The CM informed the reporters that with these proposals, the total investment figures in the state since January 2025 have reached Rs 22.5 lakh crore.
The chief minister further said that to make the state’s youth industry-ready, skill development training is being provided to them.
According to officials, the investment proposals span sectors such as travel and tourism, logistics, finance, processed food, critical minerals and rare earths, metals and mining, and aluminium and steel downstream, among others.
Around 400 business leaders and investors from the UAE and other Gulf countries participated in the meetings, the officials said. PTI BBM AAM NSD AAM BDC
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