Rajasthan govt gets investment commitments worth Rs 105,000 crore

The Rajasthan government has managed to attract investment commitments worth Rs 1,05,000 crore during its 'Investors Connect Programme' held here in Gujarat on Wednesday as a prelude to the upcoming state-level summit 'Invest Rajasthan'.

During their investment roadshow here, the Rajasthan government signed 12 MoUs worth Rs 41,590 crore and signed 28 letters of intent (LoIs) of Rs 64,110 crore with various national as well as Gujarat-based companies, said Rajasthan Health and Excise Minister Parsadi Lal Meena.

"I am glad that companies have shown interest in making investments in Rajasthan. In total, we have signed MoUs and LoIs having investment commitments worth Rs 1,05,000 crore. I welcome you all to attend our 'Invest Rajasthan' summit, to be held in Jaipur on January 24 and 25 next year" Meena said in his address here.

Similar programmes to connect with investors were already held in Dubai, New Delhi and Mumbai, said Meena adding that such events will also be held in southern states ahead of the main investors summit next month.

According to Rajasthan's Industries Commissioner Archana Singh, Rajasthan has so far managed to attract investment commitments, in the form of MoUs and LoIs, worth nearly Rs 3,05,000 crore, including Rs 1,05,000 crore from Gujarat and Rs 40,000 crore during such an event in Dubai recently.

"We are also in talks with ceramic industry players of Morbi in Gujarat and urged them to invest in Rajasthan, as key raw materials come from Rajasthan only. Things will fall in place once we get a gas pipeline, as the ceramic industry uses gas as fuel. We are trying to attract ceramic players there" said Meena.

The health minister added that the Congress government under Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is taking steps to remove "bureaucratic hurdles" in order to attract more investments in the state.

When asked about the state government's stand on conducting events like "Invest Rajasthan" in the wake of the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, Meena said the new Omicron variant is a "weak" variant and it does not pose any danger.

He said the investor's summit next month as well as Congress' rally in Jaipur on December 12 against price rise will "definitely take place as planned".

"WHO has said that Omicron does not pose any danger. Apart from Rajasthan, cases of this variant have emerged in other states too, such as Gujarat and Maharashtra. But, there is no need to panic. It is a weak variant. No one has died anywhere in the world so far because of this variant," said Meena.

He added that the state government will take all precautionary steps to prevent the spread of the virus while organising those two events.

At a separate 'Invest Rajasthan Roadshow' held in Mumbai on Wednesday, the Rajasthan government received investment commitments of Rs 1.94 lakh crore from a wide range of investors for sectors including renewable energy, mines and minerals, engineering and pharma. Of this, the state signed memoranda of understanding worth Rs 1,27,459 crore and letters of intent to the tune of Rs 67,379 crore.