In the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the State Government has started the initiatives to increase the economic activities of the State after the corona pandemic. In its initial phase, an MoU with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries and Flipkart Internet Pvt has been signed by the State Government in Delhi on Saturday.
The MoU was signed in the presence of the CM Hemant Soren, by Industry Secretary Pooja Singhal on behalf of the Department of Industries and Rajnish Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer on behalf of Flipkart and Arun Chawla, Deputy Secretary-General, FICCI in New Delhi at the Stakeholder's meet organized by the Department of Industries at the Taj Palace in New Delhi on Saturday.
In coordination with the Department of Industries, Flipkart and its group companies will work towards infrastructure and industrial development, including social development. The MoU will help in creating a conducive environment for cooperation and investment for the unit. As per the MoU, Flipkart will operate Flipkart fulfilment centre and facility hubs across the State, creating about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Jharkhand government will facilitate the new investment and ongoing investment operations of the Flipkart Group within the State, which will strengthen the Ease of Doing Business. The department and Flipkart will work together towards the construction of a warehouse and logistic structure within the state.
The government of Jharkhand will help Flipkart to invest with various departments through a single-window system. Flipkart will partner with the government and empower all the logistics and warehousing policies related to e-commerce to provide a favourable business environment to the sector to encourage startups and small to medium enterprises.
After the signing of this agreement, working by the needs of the State and the present market, Flipkart will work towards the orientation and creation of the micro, small and medium scale industries. It will also help in other employment-oriented schemes. Flipkart will contribute to the betterment of livelihoods, skill development, CSR, farmers, artists, weavers, handlooms and other sectors that serve the interests of the people.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren is working on a plan to prepare a roadmap for improving the economic activities in the state after the COVID-19 transition. Given this, another MoU has been signed between the Department of Industries and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The sole purpose of the MoU is to develop a roadmap for sustainable economic progress by promoting investment and trade in priority areas in line with the state's abundant natural resources and efficient and semi-skilled human resources.
FICCI will review its regional expertise, industry liaison, global networking, industrial and various regional policies to help the state government to work towards promoting cooperation, ease of doing business and increasing private sector participation. It will also help the state government in necessary technical advice and investment related to key priority areas such as textiles, food processing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, micro, medium, small scale industries and tourism.
State Chief Secretary, Sukhdeo Singh, present on the occasion said that today there is a very strong government in Jharkhand headed by a very young, dynamic and sensitive Chief Minister. “On the basis of his dynamic leadership ability, during the Covid-19 era, people of the State served during this epidemic in the best way across the country. Concerning his people in a very sensitive way, the CM brought back the people trapped in remote areas by aeroplanes and trains during the epidemic. Today the same Chief Minister is sitting in front of you to listen to your views, expecting your cooperation. What kind of policies should be made in future, what kind of industry policies should be formulated so that investment can be promoted,” he said.
The CS said, “Our state is a mineral rich State. Coal, iron, uranium, gold are all our State's assets. Stones such as Kimberlite that are likely to contain diamonds have been found in Gumla and Lohardaga. This is our strength. You will not believe that 36 per cent of the country's coal wealth is in Jharkhand, 90 per cent of coking coal is found in Jharkhand. If you talk about iron ore, I think we are the leading State of the country in this area. Today, industries like Tata, Bokaro Steel, Heavy Engineering Corporation are running in Jharkhand. If any investor wants to set up a mineral based industry, we wholeheartedly welcome them,” he said.
The Chief Secretary said that in the matter of connectivity, 22 out of 24 districts of our State are surrounded by the borders of other states. “We have rail, road and air connectivity facilities. 22,000 km of road network, 23 national highways are spread in different parts of our state, GT road passes through our State. Dedicated Freight Corridor is also going to pass through Jharkhand. Even the resource of transportation through waterways is available in our State,” he said.
Singh informed that abundant amounts of energy resources are available in Jharkhand. Being the leading State in the field of coal production, power generation in the state is happening in abundance. Many power generation plants are functioning in the State. Very soon 1000 MW power generation plant will be started in Tandwa, Chatra, in addition to 4000 MW power plant is also going to be started in Patratu. Jharkhand is also the leader in terms of water resources. Many tributaries, including the major rivers like Ganga, Damodar and Mahanadi flow in the State. So, water resources will not be a problem for the industrial unit in any way.
The Chief Secretary said that if one talks about Ease of Doing Business, Jharkhand has been number 5 or 6 nationwide for consecutive years. “All types of clearance are provided online. We are working on making it even better. It is being transformed into a single window system. In our State, more than 33 per cent of the land is covered by forests. We produce the largest amount of lac nationwide but there is no facility for processing lac in our State. There is also a possibility in Jharkhand for a food processing unit,” he said.
“I assure you that Jharkhand is a very safe State for investors as opposed to general public sentiment. Naxalism is in the remote areas of some districts which are in its last phase. But, the State government is ready to solve this problem completely. Finally let me remind you, we have not come here to sell you diamonds by showing glass, silver by showing gold or silver by showing iron. We want to show you a cleaned diamond and ask if it can be further brightened,” said the CS.
On this occasion, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Rajiv Arun Ekka, Industry Secretary Pooja Singhal, Resident Commissioner, Jharkhand Bhawan Delhi Mastram Meena, Director Industries Jitendra Singh and industrialists from different parts of the country were present.
