BHUBANESWAR: Adani Enterprises is set to establish an Rs 84,000 crore coal-to-chemical plant in Sundargarh district, which will create employment opportunities for at least 36,000 people.

The project along with 11 other big ticket investment proposals worth Rs 1,41,994 crore was cleared by the 42nd high-level clearance authority (HLCA) chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday. The projects are estimated to generate employment opportunities for nearly 50,000 people.

The state government, on the day approved a total of 33 industrial projects worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore, including 21 worth Rs 4,019.53 crore by the single-window committee chaired by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja. The projects will be spread across 14 districts covering a wide range of sectors, including IT, ITES and ESDM, aerospace and defence, steel, aluminium, power and renewable energy, chemicals, semiconductors and rare earth materials.

Jindal India Power Limited has planned to set up an ultra supercritical coal-based thermal power plant with an investment of Rs 14,000 crore in Angul. With new-age sectoral investments given priority, the HLCA cleared a green methanol manufacturing unit and green ammonia manufacturing facility in Kendrapara district by ACME Akshay Energy Pvt Ltd at Rs 12,422 crore and Rs 2,344.50 crore respectively along with a manufacturing facility for solar cell, solar module, advanced chemistry battery cell and solar components by CESC Green Power in Dhenkanal district with an investment of Rs 4,505 crore.

Hindalco Industries Limited has proposed to set up an aluminium plant in Sambalpur with an investment of Rs 10,517 crore while UPL Limited will establish a specialty chemicals manufacturing complex in Jagatsinghpur at Rs 4,000 crore. Himadri Advance plans for a Rs 2,600 crore facility for silicon carbon for anode in Dhenkanal. Pareek Innovative Solutions has proposed to establish a titanium metal and titanium dioxide plant in Ganjam district with an investment of Rs 2,100 crore.

After the HLCA meeting, the chief minister said, “In the past 500 days, Odisha has set a new benchmark under the vision of “Double Engine - One Vision, Double Impact. The trust shown by investors from across India and abroad highlights the strength of our policies, the speed of governance and our vision for a self-reliant and developed Odisha.”

Majhi said 330 projects in diverse sectors with a total investment potential of Rs 7.7 lakh crore have been cleared during this period by single window and HLCA. These projects are expected to generate approximately 4.7 lakh employment opportunities across the state.

Over 76 projects have been fast-tracked and grounded, while eight have been inaugurated, with a combined investment of Rs 2.04 lakh crore, creating around 1.63 lakh direct employment, he said.