The State Government received full backing of Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu, Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Sudarshan Bhagat and Jayant Sinha on Thursday, who were all present at the inaugural session of the two-day Global Investors’ Summit being organised at Khelgaon.
The ministers expressed the Centre’s unconditional support for the Summit and development initiatives of Jharkhand.
Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) Piyush Goyal claimed Jharkhand close to the heart of his ministry more than other states as Jharkhand was home to around 40 per cent mineral resources, including coal. He said that the integrity, enthusiasm and commitment of the present leadership of Jharkhand were commendable.
“As an investment destination, Jharkhand has huge potential because of the availability of low-cost power and low-cost land. This resource is easily available for industry to explore and utilize for overall growth of the State and of their own,” said Goyal.
Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani said that the State had huge potential in silk and textile based small and cottage industries. “The Chief Minister has proposed a mega textile park at Deoghar. I am hopeful that we will see exponential growth with these initiatives. The Centre will extend full technical and financial support to uplift Jharkhand’s Textile industry,” Irani said. She added that the (textile) ministry was planning to provide looms to economically weaker villagers of the State, of which 90 per cent of the loan amount would be paid by the ministry.
Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari said that the department was planning to make Jharkhand a business juncture between India and North-East and East Asia. “We are planning a multi-model terminal in Sahibganj, which can become a growth engine for Jharkhand. While roads and Railways cost Rs 1.5 and Re One each, waterways cost only 20 paise per kilometer of transportation charges. Development of waterways will reduce the logistics costs of industry exponentially in near future,” said Gadkari.
“The Chief Minister has the support of the Centre since the Prime Minister is keen on cooperative federalism. That is why we are here to support the State. The youth of today want development. Ranchi will be established as India’s first green-field Smart City,” said Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu during the inaugural session.