Reliance to invest Rs 75,000 crore, Adani to invest addl Rs 50,000 crore
New Delhi, May 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Northeastern region is witnessing unprecedented progress and the government is determined to accelerate its growth story.
Addressing the ‘Rising North East Investors Summit’ here, he also said that diversity of the Northeast is its biggest strength and that the region is emerging as the frontrunner of growth.
“The Northeast is witnessing unprecedented progress. We are determined to accelerate its growth story,” he said while inaugurating the two-day event which is being attended by chief ministers of the region, union ministers, bureaucrats, diplomats among others.
Top industry leaders Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Anil Agarwal among others attended the inaugural session.
Modi said for his government, EAST means – “Empower, Act, Strengthen and Transform”.
“There was a time when Northeast was only called frontier, now it is frontrunner of growth,” he said.
He said the Northeast was earlier synonymous with bombs, guns and rockets which took away many opportunities from youths there.
“Over 10,000 youths in the Northeast have given up violence in last decade,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi also said that his government follows a zero tolerance policy, be it terrorism or Naxalism.
The summit is being organised with an aim of highlighting the Northeast region as a land of opportunity, attracting global and domestic investment and bringing together key stakeholders, investors, and policy-makers on a single platform, officials said.
The event is the culmination of various pre-summit activities, such as series of roadshows, and states’ roundtables, including ambassador’s meet and bilateral chambers meet organised by the central government with active support from the state governments of the Northeastern region. Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd will invest Rs 75,000 crore in North Eastern states in setting up 350 biogas plants, expanding its telecom services, retail footprint, and clean energy projects, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday.
Speaking at the Rising NorthEast Investors Summit here, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director said his group will invest in factories for high-quality FMCG products in the region and setting up a 150-bed cancer hospital in Manipur. Billionaire Gautam Adani on Friday committed to investing an additional Rs 50,000 crore over the next 10 years in green energy, road construction and creating digital infrastructure in the North Eastern states as his conglomerate looks to expand its presence in the east.
This investment is on top of Rs 50,000 crore that his group had committed to investing in Assam in February.
Speaking at the Rising NorthEast Investors Summit here, the head of ports-to-energy conglomerate said his group’s initiative will prioritise local jobs, local entrepreneurship and community engagement. (Agencies)
