As most of the projects were facing land acquisition problem due to opposition from the local people, Patnaik asked the industrialists at an interaction programme to follow the state government's norm on local employment so that they get support.

Though the state had signed 79 MoUs having investment proposals worth Rs 6 lakh crore, only 28 units had so far come to partial production stage, sources said.

Others including mega projects like Posco, ArcelorMittal and others were still struggling to start their projects, officials said.

Patnaik also said opening technical training centre by industries would also help them in gaining local support.

The industry captains drew attention of the chief minister by pointing out that most of them face land, power, water and coal supply problems.

Of the 79 MoUs, 49 were signed in steel sector followed by 21 in power sector, three each for aluminium and cement while one each for titanium, automobiles and oil refinery. PTI