THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

SAMBALPUR, FEBRUARY 15, 2026

Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday called for industry-driven skill development and proposed the creation of a 1,000-acre industrial hub for Western Odisha, while inaugurating a series of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) initiatives aimed at boosting education, entrepreneurship and market-linked agriculture in the region.

Speaking at the event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry at Eco Retreat, Hirakud, the Minister emphasised that stronger linkages between education and employment are essential to empower youth and accelerate economic growth in Western Odisha. He said Sambalpur would benefit from the Centre’s focused push for tier-2 and tier-3 cities and highlighted plans to rebuild the Rourkela–Ranchi road corridor alongside discussions with the district administration to earmark 1,000 acres for future industrial development.

 “Our government has given focused attention to the development of tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Sambalpur stands to benefit significantly from multiple development initiatives,” he said, underlining that industry participation in skilling and innovation would be key to achieving the vision of Viksit Odisha and Viksit Bharat.

Among the major initiatives launched were the CII Education to Employment Career Lounge at the Central Library, the CII Model Career Centre, the CII National Kaushal Kendra in Sambalpur, the CII CEL Odisha Entrepreneurs Development Forum and the CII CEL Micro and Small Entrepreneurs Project. The Model Career Centre was later formally inaugurated at the District Employment Exchange, where 120 candidates received offer letters for jobs across India, while 17 candidates were selected for employment in Japan and five for Denmark.

An MoU was also exchanged between the Sambalpur district administration, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology and the CII Food & Agriculture Centre of Excellence for market-led transformation of crop, fisheries and dairy livelihoods, signalling a push towards value-chain driven rural growth.

CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee stressed the need to connect large industries with MSMEs to strengthen the regional ecosystem and noted that nearly 1,000 students from Odisha have already secured employment in Japan, urging expansion of such global opportunities with support from the state’s education system.

Earlier, CII West Odisha Zonal Council Chairman Anil Kumar Singh welcomed the dignitaries, while appointment letters were distributed to 50 beneficiaries. The programme was attended by Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra and Odisha Minister for Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Rabi Narayan Naik.

The event concluded with an interactive session with micro-entrepreneurs associated with the CII CEL Sambalpur Entrepreneurs Development Forum, highlighting the growing focus on grassroots enterprise and industry-linked skilling as the foundation for Western Odisha’s next phase of industrial and employment-led growth.