Showcasing the state as an attractive investment destination, the Vasundhara Raje-led Rajasthan government's two-day global investor meet 'Resurgent Rajasthan' opened with great fanfare in Jaipur on Thursday (19 November).
Last year, Rajasthan attracted investments worth Rs 3.30 lakh crore under 295 MoUs.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said, "We started a vision for Rajasthan during 2003-2008 and we are very reluctant to carry it forward. There is abundance of opportunities for everyone to come and invest in Rajasthan. Not only our state has excelled in agriculture but also we have made significant appearance on the global map."
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The objective of Resurgent Rajasthan is to increase the inflow of capital and investment in the state and I am very sure that Rajasthan will be successful in doing that."
Applauding the efforts of Vasundhara Raje, the Finance Minister said Rajasthan was the R of 'BIMARU' states before 2003. It was Raje's hard work that led to urbanisation and development in infrastructure across the state.
Criticising the previous Congress government in the state, Jaitley said that the total debt of discoms was Rs 21,000 crore in 2008 but it increased manifold and became Rs 72,000 crore in the five years of Congress rule due to faulty pricing and regulations.
The summit also witnessed the presence of corporate honchos. Heads of major companies like TATA group, Reliance, Godrej, Aditya Birla group, Vedanta Resource and so on accredited the state for having an international standard for manufacturing companies and improving the labour reforms and ease of doing business in the state.
"Rajasthan is very important sector for a company like ours who deals mainly in mining of resources. Fall in the commodity market is a good opportunity for a country like India to more energy resources and develop its metal industry," said Anil Agarwal, head of Vedanta Resources.
The first edition of Resurgent Rajasthan Partnership Summit was held in 2007 and resulted in about 300 MoUs signed and brought in investment proposal amounting Rs 1,62,607 crore across 367 project. Till date, nearly 40 per cent of the project from the first edition has been completed or are under process. These amount to a total investment of Rs 39,000 crore.
BW Reporters
The author is Senior Correspondent with BW Businessworld