Investment comes with trust in the state's ruling party, says Industrial minister of Rajasthan

Kolkata, Aug 8 (IBNS): At a business meet organised by the Government of Rajasthan along with FICCI, on Friday, Rajasthan's Industry Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said that a state begins to attract investment when investors trust the ruling party of the state.

The business meet was also attended by Vennu Gupta - Principal Secretary of Medical and Health of Rajasthan Government, Vinay Mathur - Deputy Secretary General of FICCI, M K Jalan -Chairman, Keventer Group and P C Berwal -Project Director of Rajasthan Agriculture Competitiveness Project.

“Rajasthan is the state with the fastest growing in GDP in India,” said Minister of Industries and also claimed that their government is looking forward to deliver whatever they have promised.

Gajendra Singh Khimsar said that the various climatic zones hold many advantages for the agriculture sector as “ Nature has given its own strength to cultivate certain horticulture fields."

He clarified that though the meet was about the agricultural sector, but “Industry is always the nodal agency," he said.

Khimsar emphasised on several areas where Rajasthan is far ahead compared to other states, such as the quality of milk and sugarcane.

He mentioned that the single window system makes it easier for the investors to take permission, see catalogue file, get certificates through the internet and establish the business easily.

Another important feature that the minister emphasised on was the soil card, which helps farmers to know in advance about the expected harvest for a particular crop.

Khimsar said, “ Soil card helps farmers to determine what crop, tree or plant would do well in those areas."

Highlighting the association of Rajasthan and West Bengal, Veenu Gupta, Principal Secretary of Medical and Health, Rajasthan said: “Rajasthan and West Bengal have had a long association and there has been a lot of movement across these two states.”

She said: “Rajasthan is an agro-dominant state with 62 per cent of its population dependent on agriculture and allied activities."

Gupta claimed that they have a strong industrial infrastructure and their latest development is the freight corridor from New Delhi to Mumbai that passes through Rajasthan.

According to Veenu Gupta, the state has good infrastructure with four agro parks and one mega food park sanctioned by the Government of India.

One of the key efforts initiated by the Rajasthan government is RIPS (Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme), under which incentives and concessions offered to the agricultural sector are much higher than that offered to other sectors.

Another key policy, according to Gupta, is the customised package to encourage  big investments into the agricultural sector -- investors have make a minimum investment of rupees 100 crore to avail this package.

Both Khimsar and Gupta highlighted that farmer suicide is virtually unknown in Rajasthan because with the immense livestock and other agricultural work, farmers do not suffer even during a drought.

Minister of Industry also spoke about the labour reforms in Rajasthan that have been an inspiration even to the Prime Minister of India.

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)