Bhubaneswar, Oct 23 (PTI) Union Minister Anant Geete Tuesday proposed a machine tools hub in Odisha as the state has emerged as an ideal place for setting up of steel industries.

The Union Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister said this while addressing a conclave on capital goods for steel sector here.

"Our ministry has helped in building a machine tools hub in Karnataka at an investment of Rs 500 crore and I propose a similar facility in Odisha if the state government provides support," Geete said.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was also present on the dais.

Geete said the proposed machine tools hub in an industrial park would be second in the country if materialised. It would also generate lot of employment for the youths, he said.

Geete said he made this offer to Odisha because the state has been contributing to the steel sector in the country.

Presently, Odisha produces one-third of the total steel produced in the country and it will continue to do so when the target is fixed to produce 300 million tonnes of steel by 2030-31, he said.

Geete said the investors who are coming to set up manufacturing units in capital goods for the steel sector may take help of the proposed machine tool hub to be set up in Odisha.

Stating that his ministry too has some responsibility to fulfil the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India mission, Geete said the different manufacturing units can come up in the machine tools hub which can help growth of steel sector in the state of Odisha.

Geete also said that his ministry has meanwhile framed a capital goods manufacturing sector policy.

"There was no such policy earlier in the country," he said.

The Union minister said the Indian manufacturing companies have the capability to manufacture all non-proprietary items and the government is committed to facilitate technological tie-ups between domestic capital goods (CG) producers and their foreign counterparts for capacity building.

In his address, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, said that Odisha has mega steel projects besides small and medium steel mills which also contribute significantly to the states overall steel production.

The government believes that Odisha has the potential to produce nearly 100 million tonnes of the total 300 MT output targeted by 2030-31 as the state is home to sizeable mineral resource base, he said.

Pradhan welcomed the proposal by Geete to set up a machine tools park in Odisha.

Union Steel secretary Binoy Kumar said it is in the interest of stakeholders that the capital goods industry should be strengthened so that competition increases, and this helps in reducing the capital cost of projects.

"Today, the imported plants may come at a lower cost but this is more often than not followed by their high priced maintenance contracts and spares. By local manufacturing, the maintenance of plant and machinery can also be done economically," Kumar said.

Special Secretary and Financial Advisor, Union Steel Ministry, Saraswati Prasad, wished that the fruitful deliberations in the conclave would serve as a road map to cement the ties between CG players and steel makers.

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