Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik on Thursday expressed satisfaction over Odisha securing the fifth rank in NITI Aayog’s latest Investment Friendliness Index (IFI) report. He attributed the achievement to the reforms and governance initiatives undertaken during his tenure while accusing the present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of taking credit for the BJD’s accomplishments.
In a post on his X handle, Patnaik said he was “glad to share” that Odisha had secured the fifth position in attracting investments, according to the IFI report, which was prepared based on the states’ performance during 2023–24. He noted that Odisha secured an overall score of 52.4 per cent, compared with Gujarat’s 56.6 per cent.
“From bankruptcy in 2000 to standing tall among the top states in attracting investment across India is immensely satisfactory for me. The turnaround from a laggard state to a beacon state is a story of our sustained reforms, fiscal discipline and transformative governance under the principles of #5T, which is now being celebrated by the present Odisha BJP Government,” Patnaik said.
The BJD president said Odisha had outperformed several “double-engine governments” on multiple parameters and had earned praise from NITI Aayog for its prudent fiscal management. He pointed out that the state’s total outstanding liabilities stood at 16 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), while interest payments were 1.38 per cent of the GSDP, which he claimed was the lowest in the country.
Questioning the progress of other double-engine governments, Patnaik highlighted that Odisha accounted for nearly half of India’s mineral output and close to a quarter of the nation’s coal production. He said sustained policy interventions and fiscal discipline during his government had enabled the state to invest in welfare programmes.
“Our sustained efforts, policy interventions and fiscal discipline have turned the state into a magnet for investment. They have empowered Odisha to invest in people-centric welfare initiatives. This helped us pioneer schemes such as #BSKY, #KALIA and #MissionShakti, besides initiatives in #SkillDevelopment, #OdishaSchoolTransformation, tribal welfare, #DisasterManagement, infrastructure development, irrigation projects, poverty alleviation and our own food security scheme, without waiting for handouts from the Centre,” Patnaik added.
He conveyed his deepest gratitude to the people of Odisha, whose steadfast support and partnership, he said, had powered the state’s transformation.
While expressing happiness that the BJP government was “chest-thumping the achievement of the BJD” as its own, Patnaik cautioned: “But I am worried that the way the Odisha double-engine Government is mismanaging the state’s finances could push Odisha back onto the same path of bankruptcy that we inherited 25 years ago.”
