Jharkhand, ranked third by the World Bank in ease of doing business in the country after Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, held a B2B meeting here for the first time to showcase opportunities for investment in the State.

The meeting was held at the India International Mega Trade Fair being organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Andhra University engineering college grounds.

Steel hub

The state has signed MoUs for establishment of industries with an investment of ₹58,000 crore. A special economic zone has been sanctioned in 90 acres at Adityapur near Jamshedpur to encourage automobile and spare part units. Tata Motors and several ancillary units are located in the area, according to Dilip Kumar Sinha, the industrial extension officer of Jharkhand .

He said the Jharkhand Government, after getting a second steel plant at Patratu after a gap of 50 years, has decided to convert the State into a steel hub. “We want to promote Jharkhand as a steel hub state,” Sinha said.

At present, TISCO and Jindal Power and Steel have a total production of 12 to 15 million tonnes. The State Government wants to increase it to 25 million tonnes by 2017. Jharkhand is also the largest producer of tasar. It has total production of eight lakh tonnes. The government recently received the best organic silk producer award.

He said, “We have lots of opportunities for investment in not only minerals like mica, dolomite, coal, iron ore but also in agriculture, horticulture and dairy development.”

In peas production, Jharkhand ranks second in India and sixth in tomato yield.

comment COMMENT NOW