Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi launched the Women Entrepreneurship Platform Odisha chapter and inaugurated MSME infrastructure projects during the Udyami Odisha MSME Programme on International MSME Day. The chapter, developed with support from NITI Aayog, will integrate Mission Shakti, the MSME department, Startup Odisha, banks and industry associations into a single-window ecosystem to improve access to finance, markets, mentorship and skills for women entrepreneurs. A one-year action plan was unveiled to accelerate manufacturing and boost women-led enterprises. He said the vision is to make women job creators and leaders of development rather than job seekers. The government said more than 10 million (mn) women have been empowered under the Subhadra Yojana and that an IIM Sambalpur, SBI and AI voice bot survey found women-led enterprises rose from 25 per cent to 53 per cent while average bank deposits of beneficiaries increased by Rs 6,887. The platform aims to channel finance and market linkages to scale these gains. Majhi inaugurated a Rs 241.8 mn rice milling cluster in Balasore to promote rice bran oil and a Rs 177 mn Rasagola cluster at Pahala that is expected to raise daily production from 7,000 kilogram (kg) to 11,000 kg. Two multi-product MSME parks, each costing Rs 100 mn, were opened at Barapali and Kesinga. He said the plan is to establish a multi-product park in every district with engineering, printing and packaging and cashew processing clusters in the next phase. The government said 0.432 mn MSMEs in Odisha have benefitted from central and state initiatives. Under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, 4,900 enterprises received subsidy support of Rs 1.46 billion (bn), with women accounting for 42.5 per cent of beneficiaries, and more than Rs 230 bn in collateral-free loans have been extended under the Credit Guarantee Scheme. NITI Aayog vice-chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri described Odisha as one of the fastest-growing states and noted it topped the Fiscal Health Index 2026. Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida and MSME minister Gokulananda Mallik attended the event.