Chhattisgarh has the potential to become a ‘logistics Hub’ for Central India with exports to Asian markets with Singapore, China, Korea and Japan being the focus through the Vizag port, approximately 500 km from Raipur, officials informed.
China last year had expressed keen interest in extending support to Chhattisgarh Government for developing India’s ‘logistics Hub’ in the State.
State Commerce and Industry Minister, Amar Agrawal had suggested Consul General of People’s Republic of China MA Zhanwu currently on a visit to Chhattisgarh that owing to its location in the heart of the country, Chhattisgarh State can be developed as ‘logistics Hub of India’.
The Consulate General then assured that China will encourage its industrialists to extend support in development of Chhattisgarh as ‘logistics Hub’ of India.
The Chinese Counsel General along with a three-member delegation had paid courtesy call to Agrawal on Thursday at his office in his residence.
The Minister discussed with delegates about the scope of Chinese investment in Chhattisgarh.
Agrawal informed the delegates in detail about the facilities provided to investors for promoting industrial investment in Chhattisgarh.
The Minister informed them about the scope for setting up projects on Electronics Assembly, solar chip and wafer manufacturing etc.
The Consulate General said that next month, a team of investors related to aforementioned fields will be sent to Chhattisgarh, who will study various aspects of industry and commerce here.
The Counsel General also sought support from Chhattisgarh Government for starting direct air service between China and Chhattisgarh.
Agrawal assured them of coordinating with Central Government and extending every possible support in the direction.
In the meeting, the Minister also discussed about positive impacts of Goods and Service Tax(GST) on India’s economy and investment. Consulate General also invited Agrawal to visit China.
Agrawal accepted the invitation while saying that soon he would be visiting China with a team of industrialists from the State. The delegation praised State Government for creating a favourable environment in Chhattisgarh for industrial development.
Incidentally, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had also put forward a proposal that a ‘Cargo Hub’ should be developed in Naya Raipur last year.
He had stated that his Ministry will bear the entire development cost if the Chhattisgarh Government agrees to provide land for the proposed hub.
To this, Chief Minister Raman Singh who had met the Union Railway Minister in New Delhi and had assured the latter that his Government will provide land for the project.
Notably, on August 10, 2014, Chhattisgarh took its first step forward under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feverish ‘Make In India’ campaign with a Chinese firm agreeing to establish a Rs 100 crore manufacturing-cum- assembling unit for PC components, tablets and smart phones near Raipur.
An MoU was signed between Chhattisgarh InfoTech and Biotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) and Chinese firm M/s Forstar Industry ltd in the presence of Chief Minister Raman Singh in Raipur.
As per the MoU, the Chinese company decided to set up a project at Urkura Industrial Area near Raipur to manufacture PC components, smart phones and laptops.
By signing the MoU, the Chinese firm had agreed to invest an estimated Rs 100 crore on the project.
In an year’s time, the plant would employ around 200 people. At full scale, direct and ancillary units employment would be created for more than 1,000 people. This industry has the potential to grow further in terms of employment opportunities also with the increase in manufacturing capacity, the officials had stated during the signing of MoU.
Indirect employment for more than a thousand people would also be created in area of software development, training, distribution channels/network, soft content making, maintenance and service support etc would also be created.
Officials of the company had informed at that time that it would also offer skill improvement training to youth of Chhattisgarh in IT sector. Initially, the company has planned to manufacture 75,000 units of gadgets per month. later the manufacturing capacity would be increased to 1 million units per year.
The high-tech new capital of Chhattisgarh is probably the only green field city in the country which provides six-lane expressways for easy access to the city, officials informed.
Naya Raipur also has road connectivity through NH-30 in South-Eastern direction and NH-53 in Northern part of the city, they informed.
Nearly 75.20 kms of one and six lane roads have already been constructed, whereas road network of 61 kms is under-construction.
Freight train with speed of maximum 100 kms per hour will pass through Chhattisgarh in the East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai).
The train will traverse through the States of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra as the Ministry of Railways has sanctioned implementation of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) with freight
train speeds of maximum 100 Kmph.
Alignment for both WDFC & EDFC has been finalised. WDFC starts from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai and passes through the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and terminate at Dadri in
Uttar Pradesh. The total length of the Western DFC is about 1500 Kms.
The Eastern Freight Corridor, starts from Sahnewal near ludhiana in Punjab and passes through the States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal, total length being 1856 Kms.
This apart, the North-South Corridor (Delhi-Chennai) will traverse through the States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu while East Coast Corridor (Kharagpur-Vijaywada) will traverse through the States of West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
The Southern Corridor (Chennai-Goa will traverse through the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. With regard to land acquisition, award of 20 F (Compensation Award) under Railway Amendment Act 2008, for 80% of land has been completed.
Civil Contracts of about 1100 km and system contract of 945 km have been finalised. Civil works are progressing in Khurja-Kanpur, Mughalsarai-Sonnagar Section of EDFC and in Rewari-Palanpur Section of WDFC.
Excluding Sonnagar –Dankuni Section of EDFC, WDFC and EDFC is targeted to be completed in December 2019. Project implementation schedule, timelines have been drawn up and are being monitored on regular basis.