Bengaluru: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai made a strong pitch Wednesday for investments in his state, highlighting its new industrial policy, emerging IT hub and investment potential while downplaying concerns over Naxal insurgency during an investor summit in Bengaluru.
Speaking at Investors Connect Meet in Bengaluru, Sai said the state’s new industrial policy had helped rake in Rs 4.4 lakh crore in investments. He added that in Bengaluru alone, the state had managed to get investment interests of Rs 3,700 crore.
He added that the state’s new industrial policy simplifies business approvals through a single-window system and offers various incentives, including tax benefits, capital investment reimbursements of 30 percent to 50 percent, and employment-linked incentives.
“With a $1.6 billion investment, Raipur is rapidly emerging as central India’s premier IT hub. The greenfield city of Nava Raipur also presents significant potential for IT industry expansion, offering state-of-the-art infrastructure and investment opportunities,” he said.
Addressing concerns over Naxal insurgency in the state, Sai said the problem was confined to the Bastar region and wasn’t as widespread as is portrayed.
He said nearly 325 Naxalites had been killed and more than 2,000 surrendered in the last one and a half months. “We are fully confident that the Naxal menace will be completely removed very soon,” he said.
He also said that the state government had formulated an attractive rehabilitation programme for Naxalites who surrendered.
“Bastar and Surguja have been identified as priority regions for industrial investment, with core sector incentives ranging from 50-100 percent and additional benefits such as iron and coal royalty exemptions. A new 118-acre industrial zone near Nagarnar Steel Plant in Bastar is being developed to support MSMEs,” Sai said.
Apart from investment, Sai also said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids in his home state allegedly linked to his predecessor, Bhupesh Baghel, were against a “conspiracy” to lure youngsters into betting apps.
The CBI conducted raids across the state on Baghel’s residences in Raipur, Bhilai and on people considered close to Baghel in connection with the Rs 6,000 crore Mahadev betting app scheme.
“As far as I know, the raid pertains to the Mahadev betting app scheme. The whole world knows that some people played with the future of our youth through the Mahadev app,” Sai told reporters in Bengaluru.
Sai said the state government had suspected that some of the accused had fled abroad and then decided to hand over the investigation to the central agency.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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