The Madhya Pradesh Government had spent over Rs1.71 crore on two foreign tours undertaken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and some of his Cabinet colleagues for attracting investment in the State during the current fiscal.
Replying to a question raised by Congress member Ramniwas Rawat in the Winter Session of the legislative Assembly, Industries Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia said while Rs1.28 crore was spent during a tour of the Chief Minister and others to South Africa between June 7 and June 15, the expenditure on the UAE trip, undertaken between August 19 and 22, stood at Rs43.22 lakh.
The State Government signed an MoU with a foreign company to facilitate cargo operations during Chouhan’s visit to Dubai, she said. The Minister clarified that the exact value of the proposed investment by the company cannot be known as the MoU did not mention the figure. “However, the MoU has not been scrapped,” she added.
Replying to another question asked by Congress member Kamlesh Patel, Industries Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia said the Madhya Pradesh Government spent Rs24.26 crore on organising the Global Investors’ Summit at Indore in October this year. The Government land measuring 15,208.598 hectares were reserved for transferring to industries between 2004 and 2014, she said.
Besides, 25,497.568 hectares area had been identified and earmarked for land bank. The land was available with different government agencies for industrialists keen to invest in MP, she said. The Minister said that the investors, who participated in the global investors’ summit 2014, will be provided land from the land bank and other government agencies. Right now, the government has no plan to woo people of MP who are running business offshore, she said.