State Commerce and Industries Minister Amar Agrawal on Tuesday called upon the industry leaders to join hands with the State Government and invest in Chhattisgarh for making it a 'top defence equipment manufacturing hub'.
He was addressing CII Conference on Industry-Defence linkage in Raipur.
Addressing a large assembly of Armed Forces and Defence private players, Agrawal vowed to provide the “top-class facilities and best environment” for businesses. “It is our solemn pledge to translate our Prime Minister’s Make-in-India vision into a reality,” he said, adding that the Conference on Industry-Defence linkage will “open up new areas for businesses and promote investments for setting up defence establishments in the State”.
The Minister lauded CII for its “phenomenal work” to fuel industrial growth saying most of its initiatives are exemplary.
In this context, Agrawal mentioned the CII Session on e-Commerce organized in July this year.
The Minister said the Chhattisgarh Government is resolute to take the State’s ‘Ease-of-Doing-Business’ ranking to No 1. “We are working very hard and introducing a slew of business-friendly policies and schemes. Creating conducive environment for industry is our priority,” he said.
Agrawal also said that skill development is one of the major focus areas. “Chhattisgarh is the only State in India with a Skill development Act. We have already trained about 200,000 people across sectors. Creating job opportunities is our mission,” he said.
Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department, Subodh Kumar Singh gave a presentation on the State’s Industrial Policy 2014-2019 and policies for IT/ITeS, solar energy, Agro and food processing, minerals, biotechnology, etc.
“With the country having set a target of achieving 75 per cent indigenisation in defence production between 2020 and 2025 and spending over $150 billion over the next five years on defence procurements, it is an excellent opportunity for defence-related manufacturing industries,” said Rear Admiral Verma (Retd).
According to him, increase in expenditure by the Central Government in the Defence Sector has opened up substantial business opportunities.
“The Government seeks to meet 75 per cent of the country’s defence needs internally over the next five years or so. This means that the local industry doubles in size, and 120,000 new jobs are created. Numerous offsets in the three wings of the armed forces are expected to be executed in the next five years providing,” he explained.
Chairman, CII Eastern Region Defence Task Force Umesh Chowdhary, spoke of the focused approach with which CII Eastern Region Task Force on Defence has been working towards the overall development of defence sector and identifying linkages & business opportunities between Industry and defence sector.
“The Task Force facilitates B2B linkages industry and Defence PSUs. CII organises Industry-Defence linkage which has evolved into an effective forum for Indian industries to engage with the defence sector,” he said, adding the conference is a powerful platform for MSMEs and a bridge with Defence PSUs for exploring mutual business opportunities and developing long-term business relations.
Chairman, Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC), Chhagan lal Mundra, made a special mention of Naya Raipur, the new capital city which boasts state-of-the-art infrastructure including specialized Industrial Sector, Special Economic Zones, etc.
The CSIDC Managing Director, Sunil Mishra, said, Chhattisgarh is leveraging PPP model, including FDI participation. “Special emphasis is laid on a cluster-centric approach industry parks, SME clusters, educational and healthcare centres etc.,” he said.
Chairman, CII Chhattisgarh State Council Ashish Jain, said Chhattisgarh’s growth is remarkable. “It ranks high among the Indian states in terms of business friendly environment. That makes the State a worthy candidate for attracting investments,”he added.
Vice Chairman, CII Chhattisgarh State Council, Mahendra Agrawal, who delivered the vote of thanks, said Indian Armed Forces should treat industry as partner rather than vendor or supplier.