Orissa is about to embark on a process of change, which will contribute, to the economic development, growth and prosperity. The state government has ambitious plans to reposition Orissa as one of the foremost place for investment. The opportunity to look at a number of key issues relating to infrastructure needs to be addressed by the state Government. This is a critical period since Orissa has been devastated by the super cyclone and substantial investment is required in order to rejuvenate the economic condition of the state. Orissa is strategically situated contiguous with the states of South, Central and Eastern India. The state has some intrinsic advantages in terms of substantial mineral resources, a number of large rivers and a 480 km. long coastline. There is a huge potential for the development of hydro and thermal power. The easy availability of minerals enables the state to promote a large number of mineral based, chemical and other industries. The opening up of these opportunities will increase pressure on infrastructural facilities existing in the state, thus opening up viable opportunities for investment in this area.

The Government of Orissa is also promoting some minor irrigation projects. With the completion of these projects, the state will be in a commanding position in the harnessing of the natural resources the state is endowed with. But the strategic location of the state requires its roadways and railways to be modernised from time to time. At the same time, the Paradip Port gives access to markets of South-East Asia.

The reforms of the power sector in Orissa really took off in 1995 with the passing of the Electricity Reform Act. In 1996, the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), the first independent state electricity regulatory authority in India was established and the business of the Orissa state Electricity Board (OSEB) was bifurcated into OHPC (generation) and GRIDCO (transmission and distribution).

There is also lot of interest generated by Orissa's prospects for economic growth. Orissa has considerable resources of minerals. There is considerable infrastructure development, which are opening up communications within the state and to the rest of India.

Bhubaneswar is a modern and well-planned city, which has been successful in attracting new industries particularly in the high growth Technology Sector. At the same time agricultural consumption of electricity is low and recent research has demonstrated that tariffs in Orissa remain comparatively low compared with other states.

Orissa Government have announced a new IT Policy and invited IT giants like Microsoft, IBM and others to the state. Besides these Orissa can emerge as a superb tourism destination. Orissa does not lack anything. It has all the potentials. Orissa can have an idyllic setting, a beautiful structure where people can come and enjoy.

Though not commensurate with the potentials, Orissa has a few facilities for the tourists. During the last two decades, the transport facilities by air and rail have considerably improved as also the local transport by road. The Orissa Tourism Policy 1997 have laid emphasis on encouraging the private sector for investing in tourism infrastructure. Orissa was the first state to declare hotel as an industry in 1980 following which the number of hotels have increased from 188 to 694 and a lot more are in the pipeline. Hotels have also been declared as public utility service under the ID Act.

Orissa remains essentially an agrarian state. But the problem is that agriculture in the state is highly dependent on monsoon. For this reason, the government plan to bring the cultivated land under irrigation.In one word, Orissa is going to emerge as one of the first ranking states in the country. Nobody can stop this emergence.