Singapore firm keen on tourism in MP

If MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and officials are to be believed, Singapore-based Sentosa Development Corporation has shown interest in state tourism as consultant.

Other Singapore-based companies, namely ECU Hold NV, Global Indian Business Network Pvt Ltd and Landcrop Partners Pvt Ltd, have signed MoUs with MP. Earlier, former Chief Minister Babulal Gaur (now industry minister) visited Singapore and Malaysia and signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with various companies.

But, those companies were not on Chouhan's agenda though Gaur accompanied him during the visit to Singapore and Malaysia.

An insider in the MP government told Business Standard: "The previous chief minister's (Gaur's) visit has brought no result so far. Similarly, Chouhan's tour has been equally unfruitful." Last year, Gaur visited the US and the UK and reportedly signed MoUs with firms, but "nothing happened after that," said a government source.

ECU Hold NV, a company incorporated in Belgium dealing in logistics and cargo handling and engaged in non-vessel owning cargo carrier (NVOCC) operations, also signed an MoU with the state's ailing industry department arm Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (MPSIDC) for an inland container deport near Indore or Pithampur.

An ICD, set up near Bhopal by domestic firm Container Corporation Ltd, has attracted few takers.

"The company will perform multi-model transport operations; port-related logistics support services; and handling the project cargo. The company plans to invest over Rs 60 crore in Madhya Pradesh," said the spokesperson, adding, "the state government has agreed to allocate 4 hectares at concessional rates."

Global Indian Business Network Pvt Ltd of Singapore has proposed to set a chain of convention centres and hotels in Madhya Pradesh. And Landcrop Partners Pvt Ltd has interests in rural shopping malls, multiplexes and entertainment centres.

"Chouhan visited Sentosa Island during his Singapore and Malaysia trip recently," said a government spokesperson. The visit, with a platoon of bureaucrats, was part of 'Destination Madhya Pradesh 2007'--a programme run with by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.