NEW DELHI: Information technology majors Infosys, TCS and Wipro along with a slew of major non-IT companies are likely to commit more than `7 lakh crore worth of investments in Madhya Pradesh during the calendar year.
However, the lack of support from the Centre in terms of providing quick environment clearance and other approvals is a concern. It may be a critical hurdle for the State government’s efforts to attract private investment from both domestic and global companies.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “What can be done in two days (Centre) takes two years.”
He says, it is only in such projects that need clearance from the Centre, the chances of delay is high. Else, Chouhan says, “Investor will know that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister is also a CEO of the State.”
Acknowledging that the State had chequered history in developing an ecosystem for attracting investments, Chouhan said, that has been corrected now.
The state government will hold an investor summit on October 28-29, 2012, which will offer an enhanced version of its ongoing single window clearance system. “We have identified the limitations and bottlenecks,” said Chouhan. This is the second such investor summit since his government began the first one in 2007.
Since then, the State has attracted investments of more than `4 lakh core, in automobiles, pharmaceuticals and tourism. “Anil Ambani, Essar, Birla, Adani, Welspun, Videocon and many other big Indian corporates have set projects and a few foreign companies have evinced keen interest in the State,” said Chouhan.
The Chief Minister is confident that MP will be the next big destination considering the states in Southern parts of India, known for IT prowess (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) have reached a saturation point. “I was briefed by Narayana Murthy (chief mentor of Infosys) why Infosys decided to set up a project in Indore,” says the Chief Minister.
In addition, big names from Punjab in textiles like Vardhaman and Trident have announced their decision to set shop in Madhya Pradesh.
The State government has set a target to become the leading state with highest investment inflow in the next five years. Currently, Madhya Pradesh is fifth in terms of an attractive destination for investment.