Hyderabad:
State governments are actively wooing investments from
the non-resident Indian community at the ongoing Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas being held in Hyderabad.
Each successive government is vying with the other by
showcasing its potential.
The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek
Singh Ahluwalia, anchored a session in which six chief
ministers and senior representatives presented their states'
capabilities and investment opportunities.
The Maharashtra government introduced the Bollywood element,
with film star Jackie Shroff and popular director Subhash
Ghai articulating their case in a separate session.
The Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, said that even
though Gujarat was amongst the last states to be carved
out, it had one of the fastest growing economies having
11 special economic zones. He said Gujarat has achieved
a growth rate of 13 per cent in the agriculture sector
against 4 per cent achieved by other states.
Kerala chief minister, Oommen Chandy, said that his state
would soon receive about Rs20,000 crore in investments
across two sectors and was amongst the first to have a
private international airport.
The
recently elected chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar,
said Bihar is basically an agrarian economy offering immense
potential for post-harvest business, food processing and
consumer products.
The
Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Dr Y S Rajashekara Reddy,
said that a 20,000-acre knowledge corridor providing basic
infrastructure to promote IT, biotech and other sectors
is now under way. This along with infrastructure projects
across the State offer immense opportunities for investments.
The
chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad,
said that J&K had succeeded in attracting about Rs3,500
crore in investments in the last three years and has the
potential to harness about 20,000mw of hydel energy. Projects
worth 4,800mw have been proposed thus far.
After
the main plenary, each state had separate interactions
with NRIs, giving them an overview of potential areas
for investments.
The
secretary general of FICCI, Dr Amit Mitra, said 70 per
cent of the foreign companies in the country are making
profits from their
Indian operations and about 84 per cent of them are planning
further expansion of their activities. Reforms in infrastructure
and labour hold the key to higher and sustainable growth,
Dr Mitra said.
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