‘our target is to attain double-digit growth’

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on his road map for progress.

The Sunday Guardian spoke to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, just after the Global Investors Summit (GIS), held from 22-23 October in Indore. The softspoken CM, who is basking in the glory of having put together a successful international business summit is now committing himself to making the state of Madhya Pradesh No. 1 in terms of economic growth as well as development.

One of the best and most successful business summits in recent history of India, the event attracted business leaders from 42 countries and generated investment intents worth over Rs 5.62 lakh crore. The next edition of GIS will take place from February 16-17, 2019.

The state, since its inaugural Investors Meet in 2007, has seen an exponential growth in investment intentions by corporates as well as in the number of participants it received. In 2014, for example, ITIs worth over $65 billion were inked at the summit vis-à-vis about $43 billion in 2012, while the number of delegates more than doubled to over 5,000, from 2,250 in 2012.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview. Q. Sir, you have said that the state of Madhya Pradesh will achieve a remarkable double-digit growth this year, through good governance and people friendly policies. Could you elaborate some more on this? And what are your plans to this model of growth inclusive? A. With business-friendly policies and a skilled labour force, we aspire to become the growth pillar of Make in India. The growth is nothing if the common man is getting nothing anything out of it. I will ensure that people from all strata of the society are getting the fruits of our development. Madhya Pradesh, the heart of incredible India, is one of the fastest growing economies in the country. We are no more a Bimaru state and we will achieve our targeted figures in the current economic scenario. Q. Your strategy to fuel agricultural growth helped revive the state’s economy. You linked the water-filled Narmada River with the water-scare Kshipra River. Could you shed more light on this topic? A. Narmada river water has been lifted to a height of 350 metres using electricity driven pumps, after which it has been diverted to the origin of the Kshipra river which is around 50 kilometres away. The project has helped 3,000 villages and 70 towns of the Malwa region to acquire enough water, besides irrigating 16 lakh acres of land in the region. It is just one of the major projects executed. The strategy to revive the agricultural sector paid rich dividends. At an estimated population of 75 million, Madhya Pradesh is still predominantly a rural state. Almost 70% of the state’s population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. Q. Besides agriculutre, what are the other basic goals of your government? A. The basic goals of bijli, sadak, paani (electricity, road and water) targets were achieved and now the goals are focused on growth and employment. The state has identified nine key sectors to fuel growth. The nine sectors are: Agri-business & Food Processing, Automobile & Engineering, Defence, IT/ITeS & ESDM, Renewable Energy, Pharmaceuticals, Textile, Tourism, and Urban Development. The state government is offering a slew of incentives, including providing land at lower than market rates, hefty concessions of VAT- CST, entry tax, electricity duty, and rebate in power tariff to attract industries. These apart, we have created a single window secretariat for investment facilitation, Madhya Pradesh Trade and Investment Facilitation Corporation ( MPTRIFAC), that allows prospective investors to apply online for various approvals required in the setting up of businesses in the state. Q. You are also offering compensation to investors if there is even a day’s delay in granting approvals.Is that correct? A. We have set up a Single Table to clear the projects. Along with ministers and top officials I will take decisions on the submitted projects every Monday. If anybody responsible for the project is delaying it purposefully, he will be penalised and we’ll recover the compensation from him. Many manufacturing industries will be exempted from getting NOC from the pollution control board to avoid delays. We will also set up an “Invest Portal” for investors to monitor the progress of their proposals and every proposed investment up to Rs 50 crore will get a “relationship manager”. Land-use norms will be eased for semi-public and public ventures and IT, and the fees will be slashed. Q. Could you talk about the fifth Global Investors Summit, held recently in Indore? What were the highlights of the event? A. The event showcased the strengths and industrial prowess of Madhya Pradesh, and provided a platform for interaction with the state’s policy makers, bureaucrats, industry captains, investors, professionals and academia. Over 150 top CEOs and 3,000 delegates from across the globe attended. The CEOs who attended the GIS 2016 include G.P. Hinduja, CoChairman, Hinduja Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, Shashi Ruia, Chairman, Essar Group, Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance ADAG, Venugopal N Dhoot, CMD, Videocon Industries, Arun Bharatram, Chairman, SRF, Baba Ramdev, Founder, Patanjali Ayurved, Al Rajwani, CEO, P&G India, Sanjeev Puri, CEO, ITC, Naushad Forbes, Co-chairman, Forbes Marshall, and Rajinder Gupta Chairman, Trident Group.

The five foreign partner countries — the UAE, South Korea, Japan, the UK, and Singapore — were represented by H. E. Abdullah Al Saleh, Under Secretary, Ministry Of Economy — UAE, H. E. Hyun CHO, Ambassador, South Korea, H. E. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador, Japan, H. E. Alok Sharma, UK Minister for Asia , Member of Parliament, UK, H. E. Muhammad Faishal, Parliament Secretary, Singapore. Q. How supportive was the Central government towards the GIS summit? A. The Central government was fully supportive of the initiative. We had emphatic addresses by the Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who were also the Chief Guests at the inaugural session. Besides Commerce, Industry & Employment Minister Rajendra Shukla, State Chief Secretary Anthony J.C. De Sa, and Commerce, Industry & Employment Ministry’s Principal Secretary Mohammed Suleman, Principal Secretary Mr Sri Kanth Mishra were all present. Apart from the Investors Meet, the state also organised a three-day business exhibition to showcase and demonstrate Madhya Pradesh’s capabilities in design, engineering, equipment and supplies, and support services for large projects.

Patanjali has been provided with 45 acres of land at Pithampur for setting up plant but the company requires more land. Patanjali would make Madhya Pradesh a hub for R & D in herbs. “We are keen to make more investments in MP whenever opportunity would knock.” “Now that the state is on course to move from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy the Essar Group would invest Rs 4500 crore.”