A total of ₹55,000 crore in MOUs have translated to actual investments in Uttarakhand, according to the state's minister for skill development, Saurabh Bahuguna. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, the minister said he was confident of signing MOUs worth ₹2.5 lakh crore before December 8 when the state's investor summit will be held.

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"We have seen nearly ₹55,000 crore of investments already grounded," said Bahuguna, "When I say grounded, I mean the state has already allotted land projects that will bring these investments to the state — these are targets that we have already achieved."

On Thursday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dami spoke at his state's investor roadshow in Chennai, where he was accompanied by minister for tourism, Satpal Maharaj, and Bahuguna. The chief minister met with potential investors from the city, including names like CavinKare and Saint Gobain, an aide of parleying with office-bearers of CII Tamil Nadu.

Uttarakhand has a target of ₹2.5 lakh crore for its investor summit, 'Destination Uttarakhand'. According to publicly available investment data on its website, the state has already secured investment proposals worth ₹1.5 lakh crore. A recent roadshow in the UAE led by the chief minister, translated to over ₹5,500 crore in proposed investments.

"Earlier today, we signed MOUs worth ₹3,400 crore from investors in Chennai," said Bahuguna, "In all, we are aiming to sign investment proposals worth ₹5,000 to ₹6,000 from companies in Tamil Nadu; we are seeing strong investor interest here."

Uttarakhand's investor summit is being held amid an admittedly dulling economic climate for the state's younger demographic, Bahuguna pointed wherein a "migration crisis" is seeing the state's youth leave its border villages to look for jobs in other states.

"We have introduced a strong industrial policy, we don't have labour issues, and we have a good road network, all of which are advantages," said the minister, "We are hoping to ground a majority of our MOUs before December 8." He added: "Even if we manage to secure only about ₹1 lakh crore in investment, that would still be good enough for a small state like ours."

Capex, power subsidies could bring money in

Some of the industrial policy overhauls that Bahuguna refers to include capex subsidies ranging between 50% and 100% in the Tourism sector, and subsidies up to ₹4 crore in MSMEs. Uttarakhand has also offered annual power subsidies worth ₹1.5 crore. While the state is keen on tapping sectors like Tourism and Pharma, it has its sights set on "uncharted territories" too.

On its part, the Uttarakhand Government is playing to its strengths: the state is presently home to 300 pharma units, which account for 22% of India's drug manufacturing output, even as the state's food processing units account for annual business worth ₹14,000 crore. The government also emphasised that Uttarakhand's four agro-climatic zones will help secure investments in agriculture and horticulture.

"We are hoping to secure investments in sectors like Horticulture, Allied Industries and Hospitality," said Bahuguna, "We want investments to not only benefit industries in the plains but also those in the hills, in sectors like Horticulture and Tourism."

However, given the state's largely forested terrain, land availability continues to be an issue — this is despite the state's decision to set aside 6,000 acres of dedicated land bank for industrial growth. "We have been facing major challenges in setting up new industrial corridors and attracting investors," said Bahuguna.

Another challenge that Uttarakhand has been contending with is larger states in the vicinity — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh — hogging a large number of potential investors for themselves. "We want to ensure investors pick us over larger surrounding states, and that is why we have introduced subsidies and relaxations in State GST," the minister added.

What the Uttarakhand Government will consider encouraging is that even investments to the tune of ₹1.5 lakh crore could mean employment to thousands of youth, going by its own estimates. "We want to ensure that Uttarakhand's youth get skilled and employed in our state with good salaries," said Bahuguna.

(Edited by : Anand Singha)

First Published:Oct 26, 2023 6:09 PM IST