The Chhattisgarh Government’s raised pitch for drawing more number of industrial projects to the State has already started bearing fruit. According to officials, a number of industrialists met Chief Minister Raman Singh at Chhattisgarh Sadan in New Delhi on Saturday and expressed interest in establishing their units in the State.
Pankaj Munjal of Hero Motors expressed interest in setting bicycle manufacturing unit, Raj Singh Gehlot of Ambience Group and Ajay Chandra of Unitech Group were interested in real estate, Irene Systems and ACSG Corporation expressed interest in defence manufacturing units while Onward Technology limited expressed interest to invest in the field of skill development and education, officials stated.
The Chief Minister directed the officers of Industry Department to provide facilities to the investors as per the policies of the State Government and provide all possible help in the process of setting up industries. Attracted by the ‘Make In Chhattisgarh’ programme of the State, well-known industrialists of the country have shown interest in setting up units for defence production and other manufacturing units in Chhattisgarh besides also investing in real estate sector, officials stated.
During discussions with the industrialists, Singh said that the State Government has developed better atmosphere for investors, encouraging policies, best infrastructure, skilled labourers, and 24 hours high quality power supply. He said that the investors will get benefits from investment here and also benefit the residents of the State.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Energy Department Aman Kumar Singh, Secretary of Commerce and Industry Department Subodh Kumar Singh, Secretary of Public Relations Department Ganesh Shanker Mishra, Joint Secretary to the Chief Minister and CEO of NRDA Rajat Kumar, Director of Industry Department Kartikeya Goel, Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation Sunil Mishra, and CEO of CHiPS Saurabh Kumar besides other senior officers were present during the discussions.
It may be recalled that in the month of January this year, the Chhattisgarh Cabinet endorsed the State’s ‘New Industrial Policy 2014-19’ here. The approval to the policy was accorded in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh at the Mantralaya. After the meeting, the Chief Minister provided detailed information about the Cabinet decisions. He said that the policy includes the provision of subsidy worth Rs5 crore for establishing an Industrial Park in the private sector. Provision of establishing ‘land Bank’ over 10,000 hectares for various industries has also been included in the policy, Singh stated.
Moreover, to promote bicycle manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, electronic products, textile industries etc, these industries will be included as ‘Priority’ in the new industrial policy. The prescribed limit for mega project will be reduced for these industries, so that they may get benefits of mega-project on lesser investment, he said.
Under the new industrial policy, the Chief Minister Cluster Development Scheme will be initiated, under which the State Government will provide Rs50 lakh as subsidy. Singh said that on the lines of ‘Make in India’ concept, the State Government will implement ‘Make in Chhattisgarh’ policy under which manufacturing units of the related industries will be promoted with priority. The domiciles of Chhattisgarh will be encouraged to set up their own enterprises and they will also be provided better employment opportunities, he said. Capital investment in the State will be promoted by making industry competitive in comparison to other States.
Weaker sections of society such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Disabled, Retired personnel, women and Naxal-affected families will be given preference under the policy. The mineral, forest and other resources available in the State will be naturally conserved, Singh said. For skill improvement of permanent residents of the State, participation of industries will be ensured, he said.