Agreements worth 320 Bn inked at Gwalior investors meet

Tuesday, 29 July 2008, 19:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Gwalior: As many as 12 memorandums of understanding worth 320 billion ($7.62 billion) were signed between the Madhya Pradesh government and various industrial houses Tuesday on the first day of the two-day Gwalior investors meet, said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Inaugurating the event, organised by the state government to attract more investment in the industrial sector, Chouhan said Udyog Mitra Yojana, a pro-industry scheme under which the government offered several incentives to investors, would be extended for six more years in the Gwalior region. The government has also signed an agreement with Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) for developing the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. Of the total agreements signed on the first day of the two-day event, MoUs worth 28.55 billion were for the Gwalior region - 13 billion cement plant, 10 billion real estate unit, 1.05 billion sponge iron unit and 4.5 billion bio energy unit would be set up in the region. Chouhan said the present government has paid utmost attention to the industrial sector. According to him, over 40,000-km-long quality roads have been constructed in the state. Madhya Pradesh is better placed in comparison to many other states in respect of power supply, he added. The chief minister also said the state has made remarkable progress in the irrigation sector. Irrigation potential has been created for additional 1.3 million hectare land in the past four-and-a-half years. Chouhan added that geographical location of Gwalior, which is well connected by air road and rail, would encourage entrepreneurs to invest in the city. The ravines of Gwalior region would no longer produce dacoits, but jatropha, he said. Industries Minister Jayant Malaiya said the investors meet was another step forward towards making Madhya Pradesh a leading state in the industrial map of the country. he added that a congenial atmosphere has been created for rapid industrialisation over the last four-and-a-half years. According to Malaiya, Gwalior has immense possibilities for the expansion of BPO services. He said a Habitat Centre was being established in Gwalior over seven acres, which would offer employment for a large number of youth.
Source: IANS