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
