The Arunachal Pradesh government has sought the Centre’s assistance as the state looks to boost its industrial sector and generate employment opportunities, officials said on Friday.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, has solicited the support of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for attracting investments to the state, officials at the chief minister’s office said.
“The state government has accorded high priority to the development of industry, which in turn would increase economic activities and create jobs,” the CM wrote.
A marathon virtual meeting was subsequently arranged during the day between state and central government officials, in which representatives from Arunachal Pradesh underlined the key strengths of its industrial sector to DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra.
Invest India CEO Deepak Bagla was also present at the meeting, the officials said.
Planning and Investment Commissioner Prashant Lokhande gave a detailed presentation on the state’s investment opportunities, with focus on availability of land, improved connectivity and abundant natural resources.
He pointed out some of the priority sectors such as agro-forest and food processing industry, tourism, power and renewable energy, have good investment potential, and asserted that the state would provide all possible facilities to the prospective investors.
Bagla, during the meeting, assured support to the officials, and said his agency would create a special cell for promoting investment in Arunachal Pradesh.
Invest India will also launch a dedicated website to highlight opportunities in the northeast, he said.
Officials from the ministries of DONER, Railways, Road Transport, Civil Aviation, Tourism, Food Processing industries, Textiles, Electronics and Information Technology among others gave assurances that they would extend support to the state to expedite necessary infrastructure creation.
Stressing that the state’s food processing sector, if put to use for creating mini food parks and cold chains, would turn out to be of immense value, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar urged the central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) to aid Arunachal as anchor investors.
With focused attention, the communication infrastructure including rail, road and air connectivity has improved significantly and the state is now at a “take-off stage” to receive investments, the chief secretary said.
Mohapatra, on his part, appreciated the efforts made by Arunachal Pradesh in strengthening its infrastructure and said DPIIT and the Centre would lend full support to the state in its endeavour.
