Terming the setting up of Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) in Jabalpur as a revolutionary step, the Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad here today said it will create employment for 10,000 people and attract investment of Rs 100 crore.
The minister, who along with the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid the foundation stone for EMC and IT Park, said, "It is the beginning of a new revolution in Jabalpur... At present the country imports electronic goods worth 100 billion dollars and this figure will further go up in the days to come. But after EMCs are set up, they will be manufactured here only."
The facility will generate employment for nearly 10,000 people and attract investment of Rs 100 crore, he said.
The EMCs are being set up to manufacture electronic goods in a major way to reduce dependence on imports, he said.
The Centre also wants to establish Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) centres in smaller cities so that youths don't have to go to Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad for jobs, he said. An academy will be set up in the state for training in the electronics field, Prasad said.
Chief Minister Chouhan said that with the setting up of EMC and IT Park in Jabalpur, the city would now be known as a hub of electronic goods manufacture, and the products which are made in Japan, China and Korea should be produced here.
Madhya Pradesh was now the fastest growing state in the country, he said.
He also said that his government would encourage foreign investors in defence sector to set up units here.
On Chouhan's demand that a National Law University be set up in Jabalpur, Prasad agreed to sanction one. The city houses principal bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Later, Prasad also laid the foundation stone for an EMC and IT Park at Badwai near Bhopal.
