RANCHI: To position Jharkhand as a leading global destination for investors and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with his wife Kalpana Soren and some department heads, will visit Europe from April 19 to April 27.
On Monday, the state cabinet approved a proposal related to the expenditure. This decision was among 14 proposals approved during the state cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.
The itinerary covers visits to Madrid, Barcelona, and Gothenburg and includes structured one-on-one meetings with prospective investors and business leaders.
According to officials, the high-level delegation headed by CM Soren will reach Madrid on April 19 and have a one-to-one meeting with representatives of major companies on April 21.
The delegation will also visit the National Renewable Energy Center, where research is being done on solar energy, they said. The next day, the team will meet representatives of companies from Madrid’s mining and steel sectors. Then, on April 23, the delegation will meet representatives of the Agriculture Ministry in Barcelona.
On April 25, companies working on clean energy will meet in Gothenburg, Sweden. The following day, entrepreneurs will meet one-on-one before the CM returns with the delegation on April 27.
While the state government has framed the visit as a strategic initiative to position Jharkhand as a viable investment destination in Europe, the BJP has raised objections, characterizing the tour as a misuse of public funds with limited returns.
BJP MLA and former minister C.P. Singh questioned the utility of such high-profile international engagements, saying the state has persistently failed to translate previous investor outreach into tangible industrial development. “This seems less like an investment drive and more like a taxpayer-funded excursion, he added.