The goal of a developed and transformed India is possible only when every State becomes developed. Therefore, over the years, the Centre has extended all-round support to Odisha more and more in every sector in the last decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Sambalpur on Saturday.

Modi, during the course of the one-day visit, unveiled projects worth Rs 68,400 crore in power, roads and railways including the new campus of IIM-Sambalpur.

The BJP government at the Centre is leaving no stone unturned for Odisha’s development. Owing to the efforts of the central government, Odisha today is also achieving new heights in the field of petroleum and petrochemicals, he said.

In the last decade, there has been huge investment in the petroleum and petrochemical sector in Odisha. Over the past 10 years, Odisha has been extended 12-fold increase in budget for railway development than before.

Similarly, around 50 thousand kilometers of roads have been built in the villages of Odisha under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. More than 4 thousand kilometers of new national highways have also come up in the state. Even today, 3 major projects related to the National Highway have been inaugurated here. With these projects, inter-state connectivity between Jharkhand and Odisha will increase and travel distance will also be reduced, Prime Minister Modi said while elaborating Centre’s focus on Odisha’s development.

This region is known for its potential in mining, power and steel industries; he said adding that the new connectivity will create opportunities for new industries across the region, generate thousands of new employment opportunities.

Our Government is constantly striving to ensure that every family in Odisha gets adequate and affordable electricity. The super-critical and ultra-supercritical thermal plants that have been inaugurated here today also aims to do the same, he asserted.

The Centre has endeavoured to make Odisha an important center of education, skill development. The modern institutions and educational institutions that Odisha has got in the last decade are changing the destiny of the youths here. Be it ISER, Brahmapur or Bhubaneswar Institute of Chemical Technology, many such institutes have been established here. Now IIM Sambalpur is also strengthening Odisha’s role as a modern Institute of Management.

Odisha has benefited a lot from the policies that the central government has formulated since 2014. Odisha has been a big beneficiary of the new reforms we have made in the mining sector. After the modification in mining policy, Odisha’s revenue generation from the mining sector has gone up 10-fold.

Earlier, the benefits of mineral production did not accrue to the regions and States from where the mining operation took place. We have also changed this policy. The BJP government at the center constituted the District Mineral Foundation. This ensured that a portion of the revenue generated from the mineral was invested in the development of the same area. Odisha has received more than 25 thousand crore rupees so far. This money is being used for the welfare of the people in the mining belts.

Accusing the previous government of treating the tribal people as vote bank, he said the BJP government is laying due emphasis of the development of tribal settlers.