We will nurture both industry and agriculture: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Interview with Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been in Indore for the past three days at the Global Investors Summit. He tells Shashikant Trivedi about his expectations. Edited excerpts:

Prime minister Narendra Modi had said $100 billion of foreign direct investment is to come to India and it is up to states to grab it. How will you tap these funds?

We have discussed this with a number of investors at the Summit here. We hope we will be able to see a considerable investment in Madhya Pradesh.

The PM had also urged investors in the Summit to explore opportunities in agri-processing, food processing and logistics. Have you received any proposal for investment in these areas?

A large number of investors have discussed with us their proposals and plans in the past two days. It would be premature to comment about numbers, as we are at a discussion stage but my priority is to ensure value addition to our agriculture produce at local levels. It would generate employment, since cottage industries and small & medium enterprises would be nurtured through this process. As regards taking advantage of our central location, you will see at least two or three logistics hubs coming up soon in MP.

You have introduced a defence manufacturing policy. What sort of investment are you looking at in this area?

We want defence ancillary units. We already have government-owned entities in Gwalior, Itarsi and Jabalpur. We might plan a defence-specific industrial area at these centres, so that skilled people can be made available to them.

You have said you are going to shift MP to an industrial economy from an agrarian economy. How will the move help the food processing sector?

We are not switching over from one to the other; we will nurture both. We will maintain our agricultural growth, even boost it, but will also support the manufacturing sector so that more and more young people can get employment.