By Jaideep Sarin, IANS
Chandigarh : Having taken foreign investors into confidence, Haryana is now moving to woo NRIs to put in money in the state. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced that his government has reserved 10 percent of plots in all its industrial estates for NRIs.
“We have reserved 10 percent of industrial plots in all industrial estates for allotment to NRIs and foreign direct investment (FDI) projects so that non-resident Indians can play a key role in accelerating the pace of development in the state,” Hooda said here.
Hooda had visited the US, and many European and East Asian countries in the last two years to lure FDI and woo NRIs.
Haryana has witnessed an unprecedented flow of investment nearing Rs.280 billion ($7.13 billion) since the new industrial policy was announced in 2005 by the Hooda government. He said Rs.680 billion would be invested in the state.
“A tremendous response was generated among NRIs and foreign investors during my trips to the US and European countries last year as a result of a new socio-economic revolution being ushered in Haryana by our government,” he said.
The US-India Business Alliance (USIBA) last week held a meeting with Hooda in New Delhi to discuss a proposed American technology park to be set up in the state.
A number of US-based NRIs have shown interest in investing in the technology park.
Haryana’s industrial investment success story has been scripted in towns and cities like Gurgaon, Manesar, Daruhera and Faridabad.
More investments are coming up as the state government is promoting a dozen industrial estates in the national capital region around New Delhi.
An industrial corridor is on the anvil along the 135-km long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway being constructed in the state. This expressway would make transportation easier as vehicles would have faster access to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The focus areas for industrial investment now will be automobile, food and agro-processing, textiles and apparels, and electronics and IT.
Software exports from Haryana, which were just about of Rs.3 billion nearly five years ago, touched Rs.140 billion in 2007.
Haryana already boasts of big time industrial success stories in companies like Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), Honda, and top IT and software companies.
The state government has proposed several knowledge and IT cities in the NCR belt, within 100 km of New Delhi. Most of these projects are modelled on the public-private participation (PPP) model.
The state government is also seeking foreign participation in non-industrial sectors like education.
With 2008 being declared as the state’s “year of education”, the thrust of the Hooda government this year will be in this area.
An all-women university is already being set up in Sonepat district adjoining New Delhi.
An education city project, in memory of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, has also been proposed at Kundli on the outskirts of New Delhi.