By Our Correspondent
SAMBALPUR/BHUBANESWAR: With a combination of coal, power, education and a rich textile tradition, Sambalpur will play a vital role in the development journey of New India and emerge as the next ‘growth engine’ of Eastern India, said Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan while launching the ‘CII Sambalpur Initiative’ in Sambalpur today.
The Union Minister, while participating in a dialogue programme organized with industry, administration and public representatives, made important remarks on Sambalpur’s industrial development, youth empowerment and the roadmap for the future. Shri Pradhan said that Sambalpur is not only a hub of natural resources, but it is also a strong land of human talent, innovation and entrepreneurship. With coal, power, good educational institutions, rich textile tradition and developing industrial infrastructure, this region is going to emerge as one of the major ‘growth engines’ of eastern India in the coming days. While the state government is taking steps to develop Cuttack-Bhubaneswar-Paradip-Puri as the first ‘Economic Zone’, plans have been made to develop the Sundargarh-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Bargarh corridor as the second economic zone of the state, which will create massive investment and employment opportunities in the region.
Giving information about the new transformation of Sambalpur, he said that an outer ring road of about 50 km is being constructed for the convenience of transportation of the city. Along with this, it is aimed to prepare industrial plots keeping in mind the future industrial needs. Minister Shri Pradhan especially emphasized on modern technologies like skill development and artificial intelligence. He said that it is not enough to work only in the old way, but the local youth should be prepared according to the global requirements through new capacity and talent. While Sambalpur has cultural and economic importance, it has huge potential in the field of tourism destinations and hospitality like Debrigarh. He asserted that with industry, skill and balanced development, Sambalpur will play a major role in the development journey of New India.
On this occasion, Shri Pradhan launched some major CII Centre initiatives. These include the inauguration of ‘CII Education to Employment (ETE) Career Lounge’ at the Central Library of Sambalpur University and ‘CII National Skill Centre’ at Sambalpur. Along with this, ‘Odisha Entrepreneurs Development Forum’ and ‘CII Cell Micro and Small Entrepreneurs Project’ were also launched to develop entrepreneurship in Odisha. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Office of the District Magistrate, Sambalpur, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and CII Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE) for market transformation of agriculture, fisheries and dairy livelihood systems.
