Jajpur, September 4 (Odisha.in) Orissa’s finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei Tuesday said that health of the state’s finances has improved.
He claimed that the growth rate of state is around eight per cent and, by next year, it will increase to nine per cent.
Addressing seventeenth annual function of a vernacular daily as chief guest at Balasore the minister said that there was a time the state government was depending on the over draft for running the state.
Now the state government is free from over draft and it managed to present a surplus budget in the State Assembly for this fiscal, he said. It is possible following the dynamic administration of the Naveen Patnaik, he added.
The Finance Minister said that the state government was encouraging the private sector to set up more mineral based industries and down stream industries across the state as it has vast mineral resources. He ruled out depletion of iron ore deposits as alleged by the different quarters.
“Our total reserve of iron ore is estimated at 5306 million tonne, out of which about 3945 million tonne is allotted to different companies as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Out of the remaining reserves of 1361 million tonne 197 million tonne are relinquished,” he claimed.
While the total proposed capacity of the MOU signing steel companies in the state is estimated to be 75 million tonne, the capacity of the companies having iron ore leases was pegged at 9.7 million tonne.
The iron ore requirement of the companies not having iron ore leases is put at 2612 million tonne. However, reserves available in free hold areas are about 1361 million tonne, he informed.
However, the finance minister hinted that there was no possibility of a government medical college and hospital coming up in the distrct of Balasore.
“The present trend all over the country is to engage private parties for setting up medical and engineering colleges. So we look forward to perspective parties,” he said.
Odisha.in