Assam inks 9 pacts for private investment of Rs 8,000 crore

GUWAHATI: Assam on Tuesday signed nine MoUs with as many companies as a major infusion of private investments in the state worth over Rs 8,000 crore in various sectors ranging from beverages, snacks and food manufacturing, cement, glass to electric vehicles manufacturing.
Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "We have resolved the fault line in our society. The last two years have been unique in our history as for the first time since Assam agitation, we haven't seen any bandh or agitation that endangered the industrial environment of the state."
"The state government has presented a congenial investment climate to put Assam on a robust growth trajectory,' he added.
"I am sure this investment would augur well in expediting the rate of development and lending an accelerated growth momentum. This is just a beginning of our promising journey as we move along, our state will witness many more investments to overhaul the industrial landscape of the state," he added.
The chief minister said for expediting industrial development of the state, the Assam government has formulated a customised industrial policy to help individual private investment to the size of more than Rs 100 crore. He also said the investment would help set up mega industrial projects in different parts of the state.
The CM said the fact that the investments and the follow-up activities would generate an estimated 6,115 employment opportunities in the state is a very welcome development.
Talking about the accelerated growth of SGDP, the chief minister said in the last budget, the state government has created a corpus fund of Rs 3,000 crore to enable all the members of self-help groups to convert themselves into micro-entrepreneurs so that they can contribute to the growth of SGDP.
The government has also decided to give a subsidy Rs 2 lakh to each young entrepreneur in an effort to create two lakh new youth entrepreneurs in the state.
Sarma said once the Assam Skill University becomes operational, the state would get at least 10,000 skilled manpower every year.
State industries commissioner Oinam Sarankumar Singh signed these agreements with industry players like PepsiCo India Holding Limited, Varun Beverages Limited, Calcom Cement India Limited, Star Cement NE Limited, Century Float Glass Limited, Taj Cement Manufacturing Pvt. Limited, Star Cement India Limited and DS Group.
AIDC managing director Manavendra Pratap Singh singed an MoU with the Adani Group for a centre for perishable cargo at LGBI airport to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for air cargo handling facility to boost export of horticulture products from the northeast.