MP govt spent Rs 1.58 cr for stay of Kamal Nath, 3 officers in Switzerland

Bhopal, April 25

About Rs 1.58 crore was spent for making arrangements for the stay of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath and three of his top bureaucrats in Switzerland, among other expenses, according to RTI documents.

Kamal Nath and Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary S R Mohanty, Principal Secretary to the chief minister Ashok Barnwal and Principal Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion of the state government, Mohammed Suleman participated in the World Economic Forum, 2019 in Davos, Switzerland held in January, it said.

The delegation of Madhya Pradesh Government participated in the exclusive business lounge in Davos to co-brand the state along with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, the RTI documents said.

The state government, in its response, however, said the actual amount spent was roughly Rs 1 crore.

It also named other states which had attended the meeting and also mentioned the expenditure incurred by them.

“Further, Madhya Pradesh is not the only state which participated in the annual meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana & Maharashtra have also participated in the Davos annual meeting,” a statement issued by the state government said.

As per reports available Andhra Pradesh’s delegation was of 11 members and state’s expenditure was of roughly Rs 16 crore on the entire visit, it said.

“Telangana’s overall expenditure was reported roughly around Rs nine crore for the visit. Similarly, Maharashtra’s reported expenditure was of Rs 7.63 crore in five days. It clearly emerges from the above facts that Madhya Pradesh has managed to attend the same event in relatively a very small expenditure,” the statement said.

It said Davos is the most prestigious investment event across the world and participation in the event helped in brand building of Madhya Pradesh.

“The state is facing tough competition from competitor states, therefore branding and promotion of the existing industrial ecosystem and its conducive policies is vital,” the statement said.

“During this (Davos annual meeting) event, state has received numerous investor interests. With nearly 20 of them, the discussions have reached in advanced stages of investments,” it said.

Further, new investment opportunities were identified in Madhya Pradesh by 4-5 investors across sectors like auto, IT, manufacturing, etc, the statement said. — PTI