The Odisha government has attracted proposals worth ₹2.43 lakh crore from a recent UAE outreach, with the potential to generate almost 9 lakh jobs. The initiative, part of a broader industrial push, involves key projects in minerals, renewable energy, and manufacturing, signalling a strategic shift towards value-added industries.
Odisha has drawn proposed investments of ₹2.43 lakh crore from a recent outreach to the United Arab Emirates, with the state government saying the pipeline could support nearly 8.96 lakh jobs once direct, indirect and construction-phase employment are combined. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the visit was meant to turn Odisha’s industrial push into visible opportunities for young people at home, rather than seeing graduates leave the state in search of work.
The government said the UAE campaign involved 52 business meetings, including 46 one-to-one sessions and six roundtables, with about 400 investors and industry figures taking part. It said eight memoranda of understanding were signed and 16 investment intents received, spanning critical minerals, metals, chemicals, renewable energy, healthcare, industrial infrastructure, tourism and skill development.
Odisha’s figures, however, have been reported differently by other outlets and official updates during the trip. The chief minister’s office said one phase of the outreach had attracted ₹8,417 crore in proposals and the potential for 14,310 jobs, while other reporting on the wider UAE visit put the total at roughly ₹2.42 lakh crore to ₹2.43 lakh crore and estimated direct employment potential at about 6.18 lakh. The variation appears to reflect different stages of the same campaign and the difference between headline proposals and wider job estimates.
Majhi said the outreach was part of a broader industrial drive that began after the Utkarsh Odisha conclave in January 2025, and he has since taken investment pitches to cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Gujarat and Singapore. The state is positioning itself as an investment destination on the basis of its mineral wealth, power supply, ports, industrial infrastructure and workforce, while pressing for more value-added manufacturing rather than raw extraction alone.
Among the more concrete discussions in the UAE were projects linked to International Holding Company and the Adani Group, as well as proposals in aluminium, logistics, green energy, artificial intelligence, data centres, ship repair, fertilisers and food processing. Officials said the next challenge is execution: converting expressions of interest into approved projects, breaking ground quickly and building the supply chains, skills and partnerships needed to keep investment in Odisha for the long term.
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