Saturday 20 February 2016

US, Chinese firms keen on setting up projects in C’garh: Govt



American and Chinese firms as well as other domestic industrial groups have evinced keen interest in investing in various sectors of Chhattisgarh, officials stated. A delegation of American Chamber of Commerce and US-India Business Council led by American Consul General Thomas Vajda on Monday met Chief Minister Raman Singh in Mumbai. During the second day of the ‘Make in India’ event, the Chief Minister  invited top investors to invest in Chhattisgarh. During his discussion with the American and Chinese delegations, Singh assured the delegates of providing every possible support for setting up industrial projects in Chhattisgarh. Commerce and Industry Minister Amar Agrawal, Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) Chhagan Mundra and Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand were also present. The American delegation evinced interest for making investments in road sector, modernisation of railway stations, airports, warehouses, export of frozen agricultural products, water and sewerage treatment in Naya Raipur, Information Technology and Start-ups in Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Principal Secretary Information Technology Aman Kumar Singh, CEO of Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) Rajat Kumar and CEO CHiPS Saurabh Kumar informed American

delegation about the facilities provided by Chhattisgarh Government to industries.
They informed that the State Government is providing free of cost land for setting up of Information Technology and mobile handsets manufacturing units. Officers also answered the queries of the delegation. The Chief Minister had discussions with more than 50 investors during the last two days and invited them to invest in Chhattisgarh. This included Managing Director of Lanco Solar Rajkumar Rai, Director of ITC Limited Sanjeev Puri, Kirloskar Group Chairman Sanjay Kirloskar, Aavesh Jain of Ruchi Soya, Pradeep Naiyyar of Autodesh, Darshan Hira Nandani of Hira Nandani Group, renowned Architect  Hafeez Contractor, Goldy Behl of Rose Audio Visual, Praveen Chheda of Sugal and Damaani Group, Pradeep Agrawal, Arun Lakhani of Vishwaraj Infastructure, and Vivek Gupta of GEPL Capital.
The Chief Minister also met noted film producers Ramesh Sippy and Subhash Ghai, and discussed about scope of film production, film city and film institute in Chhattisgarh.
An American delegation led by Consul for Political and Economic Affairs Raj Wadhwani and Ayesha Khan, Political Specialist of the Consulate General of USA in India called on senior officials of the Commerce & Industry Department of Chhattisgarh in Naya Raipur recently. In order to explore potential areas of partnership, the delegation was very keen to lay the groundwork for US companies on partnering the State and industrial units in Chhattisgarh, under Centre’s ‘Make in
India’ initiative and wanted to leverage on the State’s strengths in “Ease of Doing Business”, officials stated.

A delegation from the same office, led by US Consul General Thomas L Vajda had visited the State last year on December 9 and this was the follow-up visit on the agenda of promoting Chhattisgarh as preferred investment destination in India to US-based companies operating in India or intending to operate in India.
In a meeting at the Mantralaya with Subodh Singh, Secretary, Commerce & Industries, Wadhwani had congratulated the former and his team for emerging as one of the top States in India as per the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking exercise carried out by the Government of India and validated by the World Bank.

He had also expressed his keenness in promoting the State to the US-based investors for considering it as a preferred investment destination.

The meeting was also attended by Kartikeya Goel (Director, Industries), Saurabh Kumar (CEO, ChiPS), VK Chhablani (Special Secretary, C&I), and Rakesh Shrivastava (OSD, C&I) among others.

The Director (Industries) Kartikeya Goel made a detailed presentation showcasing Chhattisgarh’s potential, key strengths and investment opportunities in the State.

He also explained Chhattisgarh’s plan to establish itself among the top three investment destinations in India in the years to come. The presentation was concluded with Chhattisgarh’s expectations from the Office of US Consulate General.

Goel had requested the delegates to facilitate ‘Government to Business’ interaction between US-based companies and Government of Chhattisgarh through US-based business associations operating in India. Cooperation in the areas of skill development, innovation, research and development and business to business interaction was also sought.

Wadhwani in his deliberation assured full cooperation in facilitating business meetings and making Chhattisgarh among top three investment destinations in India.

On December 10, 2014, an American delegation from Montgomery which was on a two-day visit of Chhattisgarh had visited the State to have a look at various  ongoing projects and completed projects in the State’s hi-tech capital Naya Raipur.
The delegation was impressed by the architecture and appreciated the authorities for preserving the culture of the State while  planning of Naya Raipur. The 18-member delegation led by Isiah (Ike) Leggett had stated that the greenery, water harvesting and better infrastructure makes Naya Raipur different from new cities.
Leggett had also appreciated the rural development scheme and skill development besides rehabilitation schemes.
A day earlier, the US delegation had met Chief Minister Raman Singh and held discussions about possibilities of mutual cooperation between Chhattisgarh and Montgomery in the field of health, herbal medicines, non-conventional energy, information technology, handicraft and biotechnology.

Leggett had consented for cooperation in various sectors the economy and expressed interest in the field of generic medicines.

On the other hand, China has expressed keen interest in extending support to Chhattisgarh Government for developing India’s ‘Logistics Hub’ in the State.

Notably, State Commerce and Industry Minister Amar Agrawal had suggested Consul General of People’s Republic of China MA Zhanwu on a visit to Chhattisgarh last month had stated 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 Consul General along with a three-member delegation had paid courtesy call on Commerce and Industry Minister Amar Agrawal 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.

This New is Originally Posted on THE POINEER

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