Boost to employment primary focus at Madhya Pradesh investors' summit

Asked about the economic slowdown, the CM said there was no slowdown in his state

Any industrialist who has land in Madhya Pradesh (MP) does not need any government approval for starting a unit, said Kamal Nath during his first investment summit as MP chief minister on Friday.

Addressing the media after the Magnificent MP Summit, Nath said: "For industrialists, self-certification is sufficient. The government will inspect them only after three years of commencement. The basic idea is to provide industries a hassle-free environment to work and grow in MP."

He also said that state government is enacting a law so that industries operating in Madhya Pradesh will mandatorily have to employ 70 per cent native employees. The chief minister announced that an Israel-based firm has committed to investing Rs 1,200 crore in the state, while India Cements is going to invest Rs 2,500 crore in next three years.

Nath gave the example of Tiruppur which is a leading textile hub. He said that he has helped the Tiruppur industrialists when he was textile minister and the city's industrialist are now ready to invest in MP.

Asked about the economic slowdown, the chief minister said there was no slowdown in his state. Nath said he wants to bring in more jobs, increase economic activity and leverage the locational advantage that MP offers in the post-GST era.

He listed many steps of his government which are helping industries. Some of them are reduction in property guidelines to boost real estate, land pooling for industries and separate discom for industrial units. Others include development of satellite townships, Engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contracting for major projects, incentives for branded hotels and easier norms for resorts. 

The chief minister also said his government has provided additional incentives to micro, small and medium enterprises and start-up sectors.

A good number of leading industrialists, including Adi Godrej (Godrej Group chairman), Vikram Kirloskar (Toyota Kirloskar Motor vice-chairman), Sanjiv Puri (ITC chairman), Dilip Shanghvi (managing director of Sun Pharma), Rakesh Bharti Mittal (vice-chairman of Bharti Enterprises) and Rajendra Gupta (Chairman of Trident Group) attended the conference.

The biggest announcement came from Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani, who addressed the gathering through webcast. Ambani said, "MP is the most suitable place for doing business. RIL has invested around Rs 20,000 crore in the state in the past few years and it is one of the leading job providers after the state government." 

He said that because of its geographical location, MP is a natural choice for a logistics hub. "RIL will invest in various sectors in the state. The group is planning to develop 45 distribution centres in 10 million square feet area across the state."

He also said he has plans to boost agricultural activities as well as health care and government services in the state. Declaring that MP is the largest data-consuming state, Amabani said, "MP consumes more data than South Korea, the UK and Germany."

N Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, praised Nath, saying he never met a leader with such vision and clarity. He also indicated that India Cements is planning to have its first production plant in North India (Madhya Pradesh).

Shanghvi said MP has many quality pharma colleges which provide skilled workers for Ranbaxy's production units in Malanpur and Dewas. He said these plants produce medicines which are exported to countries like the the US, the UK and Canada.

Mittal said Bharti invested Rs 8,500 crore in Madhya Pradesh and is planning more in the future. He praised the government's latest reforms, including land bank and land pooling. Gupta said that the Trident group is investing Rs 3,000 crore in the state in next 24 months.