[Assam] Ministers woo NRI investors- - Plea to dispel ‘prevailing myths’ (The Telegraph 12.01.2008)

[Buljit Buragohain]

        Ministers woo NRI investors
- Plea to dispel ‘prevailing myths’     A STAFF REPORTER                  Jairam Ramesh lights the inaugural lamp at the summit. Picture by Eastern Projections   Guwahati, Jan. 11: Delhi today batted for the Northeast as a potentially lucrative business destination in front of overseas investors eager to put in money, but possibly a wee bit wary of hurdles real and perceived.
  “We have set the pace for investment. An astronomical Rs 50,000 crore will be spent on the road network in the next five years, apart from huge investments in railways and power,” Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said at the start of the first North East India Investment Summit involving investors from abroad, most of them NRIs with roots in the region.
  Assam industry and power minister Pradyut Bordoloi put the ball in the NRIs’ court, requesting them to play a role in the development of the region and help dispel wrong notions about the region. “We want you all to play a part in the development of the region by projecting a positive image and dispelling prevailing myths. You should play the role of a catalyst,” he said. 
  Of the nearly 70 overseas investors attending the two-day summit, half are from the Northeast. The summit has been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the ministry for development of the Northeast. 
  Ramesh said infrastructure projects in different sectors were in various stages of planning and execution across the states of the region. The Rs 50,000 crore that will be spent on roads in the next five years is by far the biggest single investment on infrastructure, he added.
  Of the 23 airports in the region, only 11 are operational now and plans have been put in place to make the others operational, too. 
  On the railway network, the Union minister said Rs 10,000 crore would be spent in the next seven years and many places across the sprawling region would get their first railhead. “If China can build a railway network between Shanghai and Tibet, why cannot the Centre do it in the Northeast? Geography and terrain cannot be an excuse for not expanding the railway network in the region.” 
  Ramesh also held out hope for power availability, which many potential investors see as a bottleneck. He said the generation capacity of power plants would improve and that the region could actually become a supplier. 
  Arunachal Pradesh has already bid for power projects that aim to generate as much as 30,000MW. In other sectors, Tata Consultancy Services is set to sign an agreement with IIT Guwahati to establish a centre for human resource development. Besides, GenPact, a BPO company, intends to set up shop in Meghalaya. 
  Bordoloi said Assam was committed to accelerating development and that there had been a paradigm shift from peace being the condition for development to development being the condition for peace. 
  “We must build on the core strengths of Assam. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi wants three revolutions in the state — green revolution (development of biodiversity assets), clean revolution (sustainable development) and blue revolution (development of water assets),” the minister added.
  Gogoi said the state was on the fast track to growth and that investment from outside was increasing.
(The Telegraph 12.01.2008)


       
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