Himachal Govt. signs 25 MoUs worth Rs. 5000 crore during road show at Chandigarh

Himachal Govt. signs 25 MoUs worth Rs. 5000 crore during road show at Chandigarh

CM showcases immense investment potential of Himachal to entrepreneurs


            Vijyender Sharma

Chandugarh----Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the state government was committed to make Himachal Pradesh an "Industrial Hub" of the country for which it was providing several incentives to the potential entrepreneurs. He was addressing the Domestic Road show under the Rising Himachal Global Investor's Meet organised by the Himachal government in association with the CII, Himachal at Chandigarh.

            As many as 25 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs. 5000 crore were signed with various industrial houses in presence of the Chief Minister during the road show. As of now, 296 MoUs worth Rs. 35,231 crore have been signed by the state government prior to the global investor's meet scheduled in the month of November, this year.

            The Chief Minister said that the state government conducted three international road shows at Germany, Netherlands and UAE besides five national road shows wherein positive response was received from the business community. The state received good response in the sectors like manufacturing, food processing, pharmaceutical and tourism. In Netherlands, majority of the investors were interested in food processing, dairy, MSME, research, tourism and wellness and in Dubai, companies showed interest in manufacturing, sports, food processing, logistics, urban development and tourism.

            He said that the state government also had meeting with the Ambassadors from 50 countries during Curtain Raiser to the Global Investors meet in Delhi and invited them for the investors meet. He said that this road show held at Chandigarh was aimed at meeting the industry leaders and investors from Haryana, Punjab and Himachal.

            Jai Ram Thakur said that the State is ranked 1st amongst Indian states in sustainable development goals implementation. The per capita income of the State has registered growth rate of 10 percent from financial year 2018 to financial year 2019 while the national growth rate was 6 percent. The State has a high worker-participation rate and distinguishes itself on having one of the lowest losses in terms of man-days attributed to labour problems in the country. The State also has a vibrant talent pool and educational ecosystem with premier institutes of national repute and a host of universities, engineering, management and medical colleges in the State, he added.

            The Chief Minister said that the State was ranked top amongst Fast Movers Category in Ease of Doing Reforms and the Single Window Monitoring and Clearance Authority reflects our strong commitment to ensuring efficiency, transparency, timeliness and accountability in providing services to investors. He said that the State offers visitors a variety of choices- adventure, wildlife, eco-tourism, heritage, spiritual, monuments, religious, skiing etc.

            "We are committed to make sustainable tourism as one of the prime engines of growth in the state by establishing it as a leading global sustainable tourism destination", he added.

            Jai Ram Thakur said that being a major producer of fruits like apple, plums, apricots, kiwis, walnuts and pears, the State offers abundant opportunity for food processing and allied industries. Himachal offers attractive incentives like concessions/ rebates on fixed land rate, stamp duty, registration fee, SGST reimbursement, transport subsidy within the state under the industrial investment policy to boost investment in the State, he added.

            He said that the state government was also coming up with investor friendly policies in sectors such as tourism, AYUSH, IT and electronics and hydro energy. The State was organising its first Global Investors Meet for making it globally competitive and a leader among Indian states.

            The Chief Minister had one-to-one meeting with Director Singla Builders and Promoters Aman Singla, who showed interest in investing about Rs 300 to Rs. 500 crore in real estate and resort. The company is already investing Rs 1500 crore in the State. He had talks with CEO Trident Ltd Abhishek Gupta who showed interest in setting up textile manufacturing units.

            He had talks with Executive Director, Dalmia Group Harjit Singh, who envisaged interest in setting up a cement plant in Sunni area of Shimla district. MoU worth Rs. 2500 crore was signed for setting up of cement plant at Sunni.

            The Chief Minister held talks with Chairman, Jai Diamond Private Limited Hukam Chand who showed interest in investing about Rs 100 crores in tourism sector.

            The MoU worth Rs 100 crore was signed between the state government and Neeraj Kumar of Aishwarya Life Sciences for setting up of Pharma Plant at Baddi in Solan district.

            Another MoU was signed for setting up of 15 MW Power plant in the State with a investment of Rs 300 crore.

            Director, Home and Land Planner Amandeep Singh Gill showed interest to invest Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 in housing sector.

            The CEO of KC Group owning AHG Hotels Vikas Sharma expressed interest for setting up of a five star hotel. The MoU worth Rs. 530 crore was signed for setting up of five star hotel and senior citizen living and 100 bedded hospital at Kasauli in Solan district.

            Chief Minister also had talks with Senior Vice President Sukhjit Starch of Chemical Limited and representatives Sushma Buildtech Ltd.

            MoU was signed between the State Government and representatives of Pumpkart K.S.Bhatia worth Rs. 200 crore for setting up of service training centres in the State.

            MOU was signed with M/s. Forest Hill Resort worth Rs. 20 crore for expansion of existing resort in Solan district.

            Another MoU worth Rs. 25 crore was signed with HRD Agro Ltd for setting up of Farm to Fork model in Solan district and with M/s Newzen Starch worth RS. 47.72 crore for manufacturing starch and MoU worth Rs 6.33 crore with Pharma Force Lab Unit for setting Coating Ready Mix unit at Paonta Sahib and RS 16.53 crore with Rock N Roll theme park for setting up of Water park at Paonta Sahib. MoU worth Rs. 15 crore was signed with Schott Kaisha for setting up of Glass tube plant, MoU worth RS 11.78 crore with Rajshri Fabric for setting up of non oven fabric plant at Kala Amb.

            Industries Minister Shri Bikram Singh said that the State had a dedicated Investment Promotion and Facilitation Centre that acts as a centralized on spot solution for investors and provide complete hand holding support in a structured, focused and impressive manner. He said that the State government was adopting a holistic approach to attract investment for the State.

            Chief Secretary B.K Agarwal said that Himachal Pradesh was poised to emerge as a favoured investment destination of the country which had a responsive administration, transparent and prompt approval mechanism to industrial proposals and above all a trained manpower with peaceful environment. He said that the State Government has simplified the policies to ensure speedy approval of investment proposals.

            Additional Chief Secretary Dr Shrikant Baldi while presenting vote of the thanks said that the State government would definitely achieve the target of making Himachal Pradesh as the most favoured investment destination of India.

            Chairman, CII Northern Region and Chairman and Managing Director Jackson Engineering Ltd. welcomed the Chief Minister and other dignitaries present on the occasion.

            ACS, Tourism Ram Subhag Singh made presentation on investment opportunities in tourism sector in Himachal Pradesh. He also highlighted the high end tourism in the State and highlighted the initiatives taken by the State government for facilitating tourism projects.

            ACS, Industries Manoj Kumar gave a detailed presentation on immense investment potential in Himachal Pradesh.

            Principal Secretary Town and Country Planning  Prabodh Saxena made a presentation on investment opportunities in housing and urban development sector.

            Principal Secretary, IT J.C.Sharma gave presentation on investment opportunities in IT sector.

            Several entrepreneurs already having their units in the State shared their views about their experiences in investing in Himachal Pradesh.

            Director, Industries Hans Raj Sharma, Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Minister Vinay Singh, entrepreneurs of the region and representatives of CII were present on the occasion among others.