Jharkhand Investors’ Meet: MoUs worth Rs 10,000 crore inked, incentives for employing Dalits, tribals

RANCHI: The two-day Investors’ Meet in New Delhi witnessed a commitment of nearly Rs 10,000 crore investments in Jharkhand in the coming months, leading to around 20,000 direct and around 1.5 lakh indirect employment.

Officials said that all potential investors, who would commit to engage 35% of their workforce from Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC) communities, will be incentivised over and above the existing provisions of the new Jharkhand Investment and Industrial Policy (JIIPP 2021).

TATA steel expressed intent to invest Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years while Dalmia Group signed an MoU to expand their cement plant, establish solar power plant and solid waste management plant. While SAIL committed an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, Adhunik Power signed MoU for investments worth Rs 1,900 crore and Prem Rubber Works Private Limited signed MoU to invest Rs 50 crore.

During the two day summit, Jharkhand Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy 2021 were also launched. Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed commitment to leverage the infinite resources of the state.

“The state government wants to move forward with the cooperation of the investors. We are trying to leverage the infinite resources which nature has gifted to Jharkhand and walk on the path of development,” said the Chief Minister. The government has stepped up and will not stop here, he added.

According to Soren, from the very beginning, the state government has been deliberating upon how to generate employment in Jharkhand. Apart from mines and minerals, the state wants to generate possibilities in other sectors also, he added.

“Hitherto, our focus largely revolved around industries based on mines and minerals. They are undoubtedly immensely valuable and will continue to be the backbone but, we are now also working in the field of Tourism, Education, Renewable Energy, Food Processing, Auto Mobile, Pharma and Textile. A major part of these industries has been untouched in Jharkhand,” Soren said.

Referring to Renewable Energy, Soren said, “Very soon we are coming up with a very big project. We are establishing India’s largest floating solar plant.

This will generate electricity on a very large scale. We are working on paving the way for industries to come and establish their plants and generate employment in the state. Our effort is to take Jharkhand upwards in the category of leading states of India.”

Pointing out that Jharkhand has unlimited possibilities in the field of Education and Tourism, CM Soren said that it is always talked about the reserves of mineral wealth that the state has but the state has immense potential in the field of tourism.

“Incentive provisions have been included for the Tourism industry under JIIPP 2021. We have unlimited opportunities in the field of education. Netarhat School, you all must have heard about, is in Jharkhand. The school is a nursery for budding IAS and IPS of the country. Jharkhand is also doing well in the field of engineering and medicine. We are establishing Pharma parks where we will provide land to medical equipment manufacturers also. We are ready to promote educational and technical institutes,” he said.

Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh quoting a famous economist and said, “Some of the nations have not been able to grow because of inclement temperament and weather reduced output.”

“The weather in Jharkhand is extremely pleasant. When you leave Delhi the temperature will be 40 degrees, whereas when you reach Ranchi it reads 28 degrees. Temperature and pleasant weather make human capital very productive. Our human capital is very healthy and very law-abiding. You will never have to face labour unrest in Jharkhand. We have our very good law and order situation. You will never hear of any organized extortion gang. Even Maoists have shrunken to a few remote pockets of the State and it is likely to be eliminated from the geography of Jharkhand in a couple of months. Jharkhand invites you, invites you with open arms,” said the Chief Secretary.

“The Chief Minister with seven of his top bureaucrats flew 1000 km to Delhi to solicit and woo the investors. This is a great change; a paradigm shift from shooing to wooing. This has been possible because the government knows that the development of our state or country is not possible without investment and innovation,” said the Chief Secretary. He expressed the commitment of the Jharkhand Government to implement the provisions of the policy in the paper and on the ground level.