U'Khand receives investment proposals worth Rs 75K cr ahead of summit: Rawat

Uttarakhand has already received investment commitments worth over Rs 75,000 crore as the state prepares to host its maiden investors' meet on October 7-8, its Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said Friday.

The summit 'Destination Uttarakhand: Investors Summit 2018' will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Against a target of Rs 40,000 crore, we have been able to lure investments worth over Rs 75,000 crore to the state which is a record in itself," Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat told reporters here Friday.

Out of a total of Rs 75,000 crore worth of investment, memoranda of understandings (MoUs) worth Rs 70,000 crore have already been signed, he said, claiming that the state's sound law and order scenario, cheap availability of power, skilled manpower and ease of doing business initiatives taken by the state government like the single-window clearance system was attracting investors.

Recalling his interaction with business leaders during the road shows held in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi in preparation for the forthcoming summit , Rawat said everyone wants to invest in Uttarakhand.

When asked whether the state had the capacity to accommodate such large-scale investments, the chief minister said investors will face no shortage of land as there is enough degraded forest land which can be used for industries.

He said a special cell will be set up in the Chief Minister Office to monitor investments coming to the state and ensure that investors do not face any hurdles.

Giving details of the investments which have come to the state, Rawat said investments worth Rs 27,000 crore have come in the solar energy sector, Rs 14,000 crore in health, Rs 13,000 crore in tourism, Rs 11,000 crore in infrastructure, Rs 5,500 crore in IT and Rs 5,000 crore in the food processing sectors.

A largeportion of investments coming to the state will go to the hills where there is a greater potential for tourism, hospitality, horticulture and floriculture, the chief minister said.

"In the aromatic plant sector, the potential is more in the hills than in the plains and obviously the investors will go to the hills to invest," he said.

He said preparations for the summit are complete.

The prime minister will inaugurate the event on October 7 and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will address its valedictory session on October 8.

It will also be addressed by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal.