Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is now batting to set up a National Institute of Design (NID) at Bhubaneswar.
The Chief Minister emphasized that an institute focusing on handloom and handicrafts could ideally be located in Orissa offering land and other infrastructure support for same.
Earlier, the Union government, going by the National Design Policy, had proposed to establish four new design institutes on the pattern of NID, Ahmedabad, during the 11th five-year plan.
Three locations have already identified to cover central, southern and north-eastern regions of the country, officials said.
Naveen requested the Union minister to include Orissa in the e-biz programme, under which five states have already been identified.
Sharma reportedly agreed to include Orissa in the e-biz programme in the coming year to facilitate industrial promotion and project monitoring, the release said.
