Madhya Pradesh woos Bengal investors

The Madhya Pradesh government, eyeing rapid industrial growth to the tune of around Rs 3.4 lakh crores in the next few years, on Monday invited investors from West Bengal to attend a Global Investors Meet in Khajuraho next month.

The Oct 22-23 summit is expected to see widespread participation from industry players to learn about and utilise the ?huge untapped potential? that the central Indian state has to offer, said government officials at an industry interaction here organised jointly with the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

?Introducing extremely high levels of investor-friendliness we are looking for a fast growth of industry,? said Anil Kumar Jain, managing director, MP State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd.

Apart from 3,500 hectares that the state has at its disposal to set up industries currently, officials said close to 20,000 hectares of land has been newly identified which will also be used for the purpose.

?By 2013-14 we are to become a power surplus state, yet today we are offering industries uninterrupted 24-hour supply throughout the year,? said Jain.

?We also have ambitious plans for solar energy given the potential that we have. By 2013 we are aiming at becoming the largest generator of solar electricity with close to 350 megawatts,? he added.

?80,000 engineering graduates are going to pass out from the state next year, and the number keeps increasing. We are taking steps to ensure an uninterrupted flow of human capital,? said Jain.

Officials said the $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, that will run through Madhya Pradesh, is also expected to benefit the state immensely.

?Though the tourism sector has not been able to draw substantial investments, we are hopeful that new avenues shall open up in the near future,? said P K Dash, MP industry department Principal Secretary.

With a third of the state being covered by forests totalling around 13 per cent of India?s forest cover, he said the state offered excellent opportunities in eco-tourism.

Madhya Pradesh is known for its resource-based industries with huge reserves of diamonds, limestone, iron ore and other minerals. It holds eight per cent of the country?s coal deposits and also leads in certain agricultural produce like soya bean.

At the interaction, Harsh Vardhan Lodha, chairman of the Birla Corporation said, ?Around 60 per cent of the assets of Birla Corp are invested in Madhya Pradesh. We are very much pleased by the way the government handles business there.?

Kailash Vijayvargiya, the MP industries minister said, ?There is no terrorism, Naxalism, Maoism or any kind of resentment towards outsiders in Madhya Pradesh. And with the kind of mandate that the Chief Minister gives us, it makes the state very lucrative for business.?