CM Ashok Gehlot woos investors; says Rajasthan has friendly govt policies

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday pitched the state as a favourable investment destination that has friendly government policies, excellent road infrastructure, skilled labour, as well as better law and order.

In his address at the inaugural session of the two-day 'Invest Rajasthan' Summit here, Gehlot highlighted that there has been an improvement in the happiness index of the state, which also saw its GDP rise by Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 12 lakh crore in the last three years.

Various leading industrialists, including Gautam Adani and Anil Agarwal, were also present.

According to Gehlot, Rajasthan today produces 23,000 MW electricity. It had started producing 3-4 MW wind energy and presently produces 4,500 MW energy from wind besides 10,000 MW solar energy.

"The state GDP has increased by Rs 3 lakh crore in three years in Rajasthan. Total state GDP today stands at Rs 12 lakh crore. The state's happiness index has also increased, making it a suitable destination for investment and business," Gehlot said.

At the summit, Adani announced a Rs 65,000 crore investment in Rajasthan over the next 5 to 7 years in setting up a mega 10,000 MW solar power capacity, expanding cement plant and upgrading Jaipur airport.

Meanwhile, Gehlot said the state has implemented the MSME Facilitation Act in 2019 and the policy proposes to give a relaxation of five years in approvals and inspections to industry players.

The state has also given industry status to the tourism sector, which will provide the benefits that industrial set ups are getting here, he added.

Industrialists including Anil Agarwal (Chairman, Vedanta Group), Gautam Adani (Founder and Chairman, Adani Group), Praveer Sinha (CEO and MD - Tata Power Company Limited), Anish Shah (CEO and MD - Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd), B Santhanam (CEO, Asia Pacific and India Region and Chairman Saint - Gobain India), Ajay S Shriram (Chairman and Senior MD, DCM Shriram Limited), C K Birla (Chairman, National Engineering Industries Ltd) were present during the inaugural ceremony.

L N Mittal of ArcelorMittal could not attend owing to health reasons.

Nearly 3,000 delegates from India and abroad are participating in the summit on the theme of 'Committed-Delivered'.

Before the summit, the state government signed 4,192 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)/ Letters of Intent (LOIs) totalling Rs 10.44 lakh crore during roadshows at international, national and state levels from November 2021 to September 2022.