3rd edition of CII Invest North begins at New Delhi

Mr Kant enumerated the roadmap of how North can drive the growth of India:

· . Albeit the challenges of being a landlocked region, people from north has demonstrated exemplary entrepreneurship traits and have successfully overcome these inherent challenges.

· . Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor would be a game changer for the region.

· .. Interlinking of DMIC with the Amritsar Kolkata Corridor at Dadri would lead to a revolutionary shift in the world of logistics and Northern India has all the potential to leverage this opportunity.

· . Emerging opportunities in the defence sector after allowing 49% FDI through automatic route and de-licensing manufacturing of about 60% of defence items.

· . North India has the potential to emerge as a hub for value added manufacturing in defence sector.

· . Government is taking lot of initiatives towards ease of doing business

· . DIPP would work in close association with the state governments to spur investments and growth.

Mr Prem Narain, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India emphasised on the role of states in creating enabling policies and models to attract investments and growth.

. Mr Narain suggested for structured engagement with Diaspora for engaging them with Indian growth story:

· . Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs aims at promoting both social and economic engagement with Indian Diaspora.

· . State governments in the Northern Region should associate with OIFC to showcase investment projects/opportunities to overseas Indians through state specific investor meets.

· Ministry to soon open Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra at Chanakya Puri New Delhi.

. Speaking at the 3rd edition of CII Invest North, Mr Malvinder Mohan Singh, Chairman – Invest North 2014 and Executive Chairman – Fortis Healthcare Ltd said that the conclave today has emerged as a great platform wherein there is participation from Northern State Governments and 20 countries. He also informed that around 120 one to one B2G meetings have been tied up for next two days which itself speaks volumes about the scale of this initiative. “Discussions held with State Governments during previous editions of the event has led to framing of new investor friendly industrial policies as well as to certain investment facilitative amendments in the existing policies” said Mr Malvinder Mohan Singh.

Northern Region vests with everything that is required to overcome the challenges of being land locked, lack of mineral resources, perception of governance issues, etc. said Mr Richard Rekhy, Co-Chairman, Invest North 2014 and CEO, KPMG India. He emphasized on strengths such as strong agrarian economy base, abundant water resources, young population, industrial & freight corridors, opportunities of bilateral trade with neighbouring countries, etc. which makes North an ideal investment destination.

CII-KPMG reports on Northern India: Heralding the next chapter of growth and development; Ease of doing business in Northern Region – a survey; and Social Infrastructure – A look at enabling elements for growth and development were released during the Inaugural Session of the event.
Welcoming the participants, Mr Shreekant Somany, Deputy Chairman, CII Northern Region & Chairman & Managing Director, Somany Ceramics Ltd shared that India has emerged as the 3rd biggest economy as well as 3rd most preferred investment destination in the world. However subdued growth & high inflation with prolonged economic slowdown has been a cause of concern for some time and taking cognizance of this CII has been actively working towards building a conducive ecosystem for accelerating economic growth which facilitates investments in the region critical for generation of employment opportunities.

Mr Jayant Davar, Co-Chairman, Invest North 2014 & Co-Chariman & Managing Director, Sandhar Technologies Ltd in his concluding remarks opined that the two day conclave would provide an ideal platform for both investors and State Governments to understand and showcase the investment potential available in the region. The programme featured participation by Governments of Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and over 300 investors. Mr Davar thanked the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotions and Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre to associate and support as Partner Ministry and Institutional Partner respectively.