By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal, May 17: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Silicon Valley at San Jose during his U.S. visit on Wednesday.
According to an official Press release the Bankers Club of San Francisco organized a road show and interactive meeting on investment potential in Madhya Pradesh with the cooperation of U.S.-Indo Business Council and FICCI on the occasion.
At the programme the Director of Association of American Hotel Owners Shailendra Sam Devdhara proposed to invest Rs. 500 crore in hospitality sector and to set up a 100 budget plus hotels chain in Madhya Pradesh. Devdhara said that he would visit Madhya Pradesh with a delegation and make the formal proposal after seeing the sites.
During one to one meeting, the Director of Urology and Oncology Research Centre, Dr. Raj Dahia showed interest in setting up diagnostic centres at a cost of Rs. ten million dollars in Madhya Pradesh. Facilities of sample tests, diagnosis and treatment would be provided in rural areas through these centres.
While inviting the investors and industrialists to the Global Investors Meet to be held at Bhopal the Chief Minister said that a knowledge revolution is spreading across India and India is moving towards becoming a knowledge economy. Madhya Pradesh is keeping pace with the rest of country and the world. In Madhya Pradesh 10 universities and over 65 professional colleges are producing 2,30,000 young English knowing graduates including 18,000 technical graduates every year.
Chouhan said Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, is being developed as a centre of learning. Madhya Pradesh is the first Indian state to have acquired optical fiber technology and today the state has 23,000 kms length of optical fiber backbone. Madhya Pradesh is the fastest moving Indian state. Madhya Pradesh is a fine example of industrial peace. It is an ideal state to earn profits by setting up industries and businesses in service sector. The state enjoys the benefit of a near perfect equidistant connectivity and owing to this it is the best choice for investment.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the number of Indian scientists and engineers in the Silicon Valley has increased by 646 per cent between 1990 and 2000 whereas the average increase was only 103 per cent. In the Silicon Valley 4 out of every 10 startups are run by Indians, he added.
The North American Association of Madhyapradeshiya (NAAM) felicitated the Chief Minister and the delegation at the dinner. The Association lauded the efforts being made by Madhya Pradesh and assured full cooperation in making the Global Summit 2007 a success. The Chief Minister described the Members of the Association as the ambassadors of Madhya Pradesh and solicited their cooperation for development of the state. The Chief Minister presented a memento to the President of the Association Prakash Bhalerao on behalf of the people of Madhya Pradesh.
The Minister for Commerce and Industries Babulal Gaur and the Minister for Information Technology Kailash Vijaywargiya also held discussions with the NRIs from Madhya Pradesh and answered their queries.
Detailed information about policies of Madhya Pradesh, sector wise investment profiles, resources, infrastructure and investment opportunities were provided through brochures and CD to the investors. Senior officers of the state made power point presentations on development of Madhya Pradesh. ([email protected])