India Inc outlines investment plans

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, November 7

Heads of various corporate houses laid down their plans for investment in Himachal while addressing the inaugural session of Rising Himachal Global Investors Meet in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pranav Adani, MD of Adani Agro, Oil and Gas, said his group had invested Rs 250 crore for establishing cold storages for apple produce in Himachal. The cold storages have a capacity to store 24,000 MT apple and it benefited 20,000 apple farmers. The group intends to invest another Rs 100 crore for creating more apple stores and Rs 350 crore for providing natural gas and CNG stations in Shimla district.

Amit Agarwal, head, Amazon India, said online marketing company had helped small manufacturers export goods worth Rs 1 billion from the country. He said Wow Shampoo, a Bangalore-based company, was sourcing about 70 per cent of its ingredients from Himachal. The group also has its manufacturing unit in the state. The shampoo that is being sold internationally by Amazon is providing employment to about 300 people in Himachal.

He said Amazon India had signed four MoUs with handicrafts and industries department to provide platform for their produce.

Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said the group would invest Rs 1,000 crore in Himachal in the next three years. The group has already provided employment to 15,000 in Himachal.

Mittal urged the Chief Minister to reduce restoration charges being charged from telecom companies by the PWD. He said the PWD was charging Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,800 per square metre as restoration charges from telecom companies laying underground cable along roads, while in other states, the charges were Rs 150 to 200 per sq m.

The Bharti vice-chairman said there was possibility of starting vocational training in 25,000 schools.

Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman, Energy and International Airports, GMR group, said the group was already bringing up power project with an investment of Rs 2,500 crore in Chamba district. The group was also looking for investment in aviation and transportation sectors in the state, he said.

RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Sazuki, said per capita sale of cars in Himachal was 2.5 times of the national average. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tasked every state to contribute into making India a $5 trillion economy.

BR Shetty, Chairman, BRS Ventures, said he had created a fund in which investors from across the globe were investing to fulfil the dream of Modi to make India a $5 trillion economy.