By IANS
Bhubaneswar : Top IT companies setting up shop and the government’s plan to provide drinking water to 10,000 villages were some of the points highlighted by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday during his Independence Day address.
Hoisting the tricolour at the Mahatma Gandhi Marg here, Patnaik paid tribute to the leaders who had sacrificed their life for the nation and said the country has progressed in various fields as had Orissa.
“The state has huge mineral wealth and my government is taking steps for its proper utilisation for the benefit of the state and its people,” he said, adding that at least 25 big industries had started production.
The state was attracting investment not only in the mines and mineral sectors but also in other fields like IT with top companies like Infosys, Wipro, Satyam TCS and IBM setting up their development centres in the state capital Bhubaneswar.
This year, export of software from the state will touch Rs.7 billion, Patnaik said.
“My government has taken various steps to improve the life of common men and poor,” he said detailing the government’s irrigation plans and the steps being taken to provide drinking water to at least 10,000 villages this year.
The chief minister pointed out that tribal students had performed well in this year’s high school certificate examination and the state government was going to construct at least 1,000 girls’ hostels to provide them better facilities.