Concluding the Madhya Pradesh Global Investors Summit here on Friday, State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that intentions for investing about ₹6.85 lakh crore were received in the three-day meet.

Most of the investments announced in the summit are in power, coal, food processing and Information Technology sectors of the mineral rich State. Power, Fertilisers, Chemicals and Coal Ministries of the Union Government also announced a slew of investments in the State.

The Government, however, has not signed any Memorandum of Understanding with the investors.

“We had decided earlier that we will not sign any MoUs at the moment. These are investment intentions received from various industrial houses. Within a month, we will contact all these investors and make a roadmap for the successful completion of every project. An investment manager will be provided for every single proposal for its effective follow up,” he said.

Taking cue from the Centre’s decision to relax FDI norms in defence production, the summit saw two companies – Larsen and Toubro and Bharat Forge – expressing interest to invest in Madhya Pradesh in the sector.

Defence hub

“We have a policy for encouraging defence production. Our intention is to develop a defence industrial estate. We will acquire and develop land for the purpose. We will give 50 per cent concession in the circle rates for the defence production,” he told BusinessLine .

He said such discounts will also be given to industries in the food processing, textiles and rural BPOs sectors.

“We will compensate the additional cost if a private company acquires land beyond the Government area,” he said adding that the State has 26,000 hectares of land bank. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the State to tap its defence manufacturing potential.

The Chief Minister flaunted the huge land bank in all the sector-specific negotiations and other meetings during the summit. He said that ensuring a hassle-free land acquisition was vital for development.

“We have details of the land available with us. We are ready to provide them to industries. If they need more land, they can purchase it from private people. But, we do not want investors to be caught in legal tangles. That is why we have created a land bank,” he said and added that the land will be distributed in a transparent manner.

“We have a land allotment policy for every sector. Allotment is made according to this policy,” he said.

Chauhan is not ready to compare his State’s progress with Gujarat.

“Our focus was on infrastructure development and agriculture. We have built a good network of roads. The double digit growth in agriculture is stable and we produce surplus foodgrains. Now we are focusing on small and medium industries. We are not projecting ourselves as a model. We are working on our needs,” Chaohan added.

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