Even as Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi courted investors at the Odisha Food Pro programme in Delhi, the Biju Janata Dal has launched a sharp attack, accusing the BJP-led state government of delivering nothing but empty promises after two years in power.
In a strong statement, BJD Spokesperson and Media Coordinator Dr. Lenin Mohanty said the government has organised a string of high-profile investors’ meets — in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Gujarat, Singapore and Japan — yet has little to show for it on the ground.
“After every investors’ meet, the government makes tall claims. But these have not translated into actual investments,” Dr Mohanty said. He pointed to the much-hyped Utkarsh Odisha event in Bhubaneswar in January 2025, where the government claimed investment proposals worth ₹16.73 lakh crore and signed MoUs for ₹12.89 lakh crore. A subsequent Hyderabad meet was said to have generated proposals of ₹67,000 crore. “There is still no clear account of how much of this money has actually come into Odisha,” he added.
Official data paints a starkly different picture. According to central government figures, Odisha attracted just ₹39 crore in Foreign Direct Investment during 2024-25 — a mere 0.009 per cent of India’s total FDI inflows.
Worse, several projects that had signed MoUs under the previous government have quietly exited the state. These include the proposed ArcelorMittal mega steel plant in Kendrapara, the JSW EV project at Naraj, a semiconductor unit planned by S. Ram N. Ram Company, and a textile project at Chaudwar. “These companies left because of the state government’s incompetence,” Dr Mohanty charged. “Even those who earlier showed interest are no longer coming.”
The industrial sector itself is showing clear signs of strain. Odisha’s industrial growth rate, which stood at 9.6 per cent in 2023-24, slipped to 7.9 per cent in 2024-25. The state’s rankings in both Startup Rankings and Export Rankings have also declined.
“Two years of BJP rule have delivered only rhetoric. The ground reality of investment in Odisha remains zero,” Dr Mohanty concluded.
The BJD’s broadside comes at a time when the ruling party continues to project Odisha as an emerging investment destination.
Whether the government’s claims will eventually materialise — or remain confined to conference halls — is a question the opposition is determined to keep asking.
