MP seeks global investment as India's 'emerging economic tiger'

Promoting itself as "India's emerging economic tiger", Madhya Pradesh government Thursday invited global investors to the country's biggest state with promise of all necessary infrastructure and a favourable business ecosystem.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath said Madhya Pradesh is not a fully urbanised state and it was largely rural-focussed mainly on agriculture.

Terming job creation and agriculture as his main focus areas, the senior Congress leader said he wants to ensure that agriculture is linked to the industrial growth in the state and the new industries that come up create employment in a big way.

He said there is a deep-rooted frustration over jobs, not just in Madhya Pradesh but in the entire country, and this can create a big social problem if not tackled immediately.

He was addressing investors at a session here on the sidelines of the WEF annual meeting.

The 'Invest Madhya Pradesh' session was organised by the Madhya Pradesh government and leading industry chamber CII to promote the state as "India's emerging economic tiger'.

Nath has been a regular at Davos as a union minister in the past, but has come for the first time as chief minister this time.

He urged investors to look at his state differently than they did earlier, saying he was doing his best and the investors should also do their best now.

Nath said several states have set up pavilions here, but he has none as he wants the investors to talk about the business opportunities available in in the state.

Madhya Pradesh's Chief Secretary S R Mohanty said, "apart from being biggest state, it has been blessed with a whole lot of minerals, is a power surplus state and has a huge road network and even the Narmada water is reserved for the industry there."