By IANS
Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) : The Madhya Pradesh government Friday signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) at an investors’ meet here that would bring Rs.100 billion ($2.5 billion) worth of investments to the state.
Inaugurating the third state-sponsored Global Investors’ Meet, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called upon investors to come forward to take advantage of the state’s industry-friendly policy.
He assured them they would not have any problem at any level once they commit to invest in the Madhya Pradesh.
The MoUs were signed in the first session of the two-day meet here, about 300 km from state capital Bhopal. More than 190 investors are participating in the meet.
Speaking at the meet, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumarmanglam Birla said he had a 50-year relationship with Madhya Pradesh ever since his forefathers launched their first manmade fibre plant at Nagada in Ujjain district.
Although his group had not signed any MoU at the meet so far, he said it was “all set to make huge investment in Sagar, Jabalpur and Rewa”. His company Hindalco Industries, one of the largest aluminium producers in the country, will set up a plant in Madhya Pradesh, he added.
The MoUs signed include two in the energy sector, two in cement and one for iron-ore industry.
“We are bringing a Rs.1,200 crore (Rs.12 billion) plant at Katni in Jabalpur (district) for which a MoU has been signed. We are also making an investment of Rs.1,500 crore (Rs.15 billion) in Indore,” said Vivek Chawla, president of Associated Cement Companies, a leading cement producer in India.
The state government had invited more than 700 industrialists from within and outside the country. Of them, 309 confirmed participation and more than 190 reached Jabalpur to participate in the meet on its first day.
This is the third investors’ meet organised by the state government in the past two years. The previous meets at Khajuraho and Indore have already attracted MoUs worth Rs.1,050 billion and Rs.1,142 billion, respectively.
The meet also showcases an exhibition entitled “Vikas Pradarshani” (Development Exhibition) organised by the state industries department at the historical Garrison Ground to display the development of state.
A special theme pavilion to showcase the progress and investment opportunities in the state was the main attraction of the meet.