Chhattisgarh to focus on non-core sector industries

Chhattisgarh government would be concentrating on non-core sector industries to flow-in investment and in the interest of the people.

"There had been a huge employment opportunity in the non-core sector industries and the state government had been promoting the sector," Governor Shekhar Dutt said while addressing the first session of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly today. The non-core sector had been environment friendly also, he added.

The state government had developed the core sector under the policy to add value to the rich minerals that the state had been endowed with. Now, it was the turn of non-core sector industries, Dutt added.

He said that state government had fulfilled its promise of procuring paddy on support price and had set a recorded in the paddy procurement. In the kharif marketing seasion 2012-13, Chhattisgarh government has procured 7.136 million tonne paddy and paid Rs 10, 922 crore including bonus to the farmers, he said.

The Governor added that right from the day of taking oath, the state government had started working on its poll promises. The state government had requested the prime minister in a letter to fix the minimum support price on paddy at Rs 2100 a quintal. The state government had also decided to provide a bonus of Rs 300 per quintal to farmers against the paddy procured in the kharif season 2013-14, he added. Dutt also referred to the Chhattisgarh Food and Nutritional Security Act 2012 enacted to make the state free of hunger and malnutrition. Under the scheme, the poor families are getting 35 kg of rice and wheat at a price of Rs per kilogram from January 1. In all, 4.8 million families would be benefited.

The power generation capacity has reached to 2, 424 MW from 1,360 MW in 2003. Within a year, 1000 MW power plant would also be established in Madwa-Tendubhata of Janjgir-Champa district, the Governor added.