RANCHI: The delegation, which is scheduled to travel to Europe under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, has been given political clearance from the Central Government and will be leaving from Ranchi for Sweden and Spain on April 18.
According to officials in the Industry Department, entrepreneurs from both countries would be invited for industrial investment in Jharkhand. The tour aims to attract investors through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), while promoting technology in the sectors of mining, steel, and electric vehicles, as well as identifying partnerships in green technology.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren along with the Chief Secretary and secretaries of some selected departments, will be on a visit to Europe from April 19 to 27. The delegation is also expected to explore investment opportunities for industrial areas in Adityapur, Bokaro, and Santhal Pargana, in addition to learning best practices in mine reclamation and clean energy initiatives.
These efforts aim to present attractive prospects to European investors. Officials said that Jharkhand has a range of mineral reserves; Jamshedpur has a lot of potential in the field of the automobile industry and food processing. Entrepreneurs will also be attracted to invest in the field of EV, wind and solar energy, they said.
Government sources said that the objective of the tour is to attract investment in the state, exploring possibilities related to green energy, smart cities, technology and industrial development, besides learning from innovation, skill development and infrastructure of both countries. 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 will have one-on-one meeting with representatives of major companies on April 21. The delegation will also visit the National Renewable Energy Centre, where research is being done on solar energy, they said.
Later, on April 22, the delegation will meet representatives of companies from the mining sector and the steel sector in Madrid. Then on April 23, the delegation will meet representatives of the Agriculture Ministry in Barcelona. On April 25, a meeting will be held with companies working on clean energy at in Gothenburg, Sweden.
On 26 April, a one-to-one meeting will be held with entrepreneurs, and the CM will return with the delegation on April 27.
Rs 3.5 crore plus GST will be allocated to an event management company based in Pune to organise the tour successfully. An additional Rs 25 lakh will be spent on incidental, daily and other miscellaneous expenses. In total, Rs 3.75 crore plus GST will be spent on the tour.
Earlier in 2017, the then Chief Minister Raghubar Das visited Japan and the Czech Republic along with a high-level delegation to woo investors. During the visit, Das and his team participated in a three-day engineering fair in the Czech Republic. In Japan, the delegation held road shows at Tokyo and Osaka.