Himachal plans investment roadshows in April

In an effort to step up industrial investment in Himachal Pradesh, the state government is planning roadshows in the country in the next couple of months, urging the corporate sector to invest.

Sources here said a team of top officials of the state government, including the state industries minister Kuldeep Kumar, will join Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at these roadshows after the assembly budget session ends in April.

After the excise package was extended last year till 2010, officials say, surprisingly, there has been a slowdown in investments in the past few months.

The state has attracted investment proposals of over Rs 23,000 crore since 2003.

The state government now has targeted attracting an additional investment of Rs 20,000 crore before the tax holiday expires in 2010.

Sources said the focus of the countrywide roadshows would be to particularly attract investments in the automobile sector and make the hill state a new auto hub, after already earning the title "the pharmaceutical hub of India".

Although the exact schedule of the proposed roadshows highlighting why Himachal Pradesh is the ideal destination to invest in the country is not known at this stage, the details were still being worked out, officials say.

A year ago similar roadshows were held successfully by the state government at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.