Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday said that the state has made very significant strides in various sectors and this makes it an ideal destination for investments.The Chief Minister was addressing the entrepreneurs and representatives of industrial houses during a ‘Road Show’ at Mumbai. He invited the participants to be a part of Himachal Pradesh's growth story.
He emphasized that the state has lowest crime rate in the country, pristine environs, congenial industrial relations, surplus power, skilled manpower, etc. The state has everything that is required for sustainable investments, he added.
Thakur said that state offers attractive incentives under the industrial policy to boost investment in the state in all sectors. The government has come up with some more investor friendly policies in sectors like tourism, wellness centres, educational and technical institutes, logistics, aroma, Ayush, housing and real estate, IT& electronics, electric vehicles, MSME, he said.
The Chief Minister further said that state is putting earnest effort in improving ease of doing business which is visible in the improved rankings done by the Government of India. We were now ranked top among fast movers category in ease of doing reforms, he added.
Thakur also said that to ensure efficiency, transparency, timeliness and accountability in allotting clearances to various industrial projects, the State Government has evolved single window mechanism in Himachal which reflects strong commitment of the government to make Himachal Pradesh industrial hub of the country.
He informed that government is organizing its maiden Global Investors’ Meet in November at Dharamshala. He also appealed to the entrepreneurs to participate in the meet as they can play a vital role in success of the meet with their new ideas for development of the state.
He presented the priority sectors of the state like tourism, food processing, pharmaceuticals, IT, etc and requested the participants to explore investment opportunities in these sectors and the government will extend all support and facilitation.Industry Minister Bikram Singh also addressed the gathering of potential investors and stressed upon the congenial investment atmosphere that has been created in Himachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the State Government has signed a MoU worth Rs 300 crore with M/s Mahindra Resorts for investment in Mahindra Resorts at Kandaghat (Solan district), Janjheli and Koldam (Mandi district) and Dharamshala. Chairman, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts Arun Nanda was also present on the occasion.
The Chief Minister also called on chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani at Mumbai as part of outreach activity for attracting investments to the state.
He invited the Reliance Group to participate in the Investors’ Meet at Dharmashala.
Thakur said that State Government is providing all basic facilities to the potential entrepreneurs like availability of land, uninterrupted electricity supply and responsive administration.
During the meeting, Mukesh Ambani showed interest in strengthening Jio network particularly in rural areas of the state by laying new optical fibre line. He also showed interest in post harvest management of fruit and vegetable besides setting up of mobile phone assembly unit in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh area for which he assured that a team of the company would visit the state to finalize its activities.
He also expressed desire to set up a resort in the state particularly in Dharamshala area. Apart from Mukesh Ambani, the Chief Minister also had Business 2 Government (B2G) meetings with heads and representative of industrial houses at Mumbai.He met chairman RPG enterprises Harsh Goenka and discussed about investment in IT park at Waknaghat in Solan district. Goenka said that the company is looking at plantation as it was the largest company in tea and rubber plantation. The government suggested that contract farming is suitable for plantation in Himachal Pradesh.
Thakur also had a meeting with representatives of DP World that showed interest in investment in logistics sector and dry port at Baddi. The State Government suggested DP World to submit proposal for the same so that possibility of logistic park could be explored in Baddi area.
The Chief Minister also had one to one meeting with Chief Counsel India and AMEA, Mondeleze India, Sree Patel, COO United Phosphorous Limited Sagar Kaushik. The firm is into horticulture and procures apples and oranges for distribution to retail stores. They shared a small presentation with Chief Minister about the firm, its products and expansion plans in India.
The company also submitted proposal for expansion of existing facility in Himachal by five times in procurement of apples.
Another meeting was held with chairman, Foods and Inns Limited Bhupendra Dalal. The company is into exports of mango pulp and is looking at investment in food processing sector.