Global Investors' Summit scheduled in MP

Khajuraho, MP, Jan 17 (UNI) Spurred by the response to the two-day Investors' Meet-2007 that concluded here today, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to host a Global Investors' Summit in October to attract further investment.

Investors from the world over and non-resident Indians would be invited for that summit whose precise dates are yet to be finalised, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters at this world-renowned tourist destination famous for temples dating back to the Chandela era.

''Investment proposals to the tune of Rs 39,334 crore were received and 26 memoranda of understanding and expressions of interest inked here,'' he said. More than 100 NRIs and other investors attended the meet, which was a kind of follow-up to the Pravasi Bharatiya meets in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

Eleven MoU specifically related to the energy sector and involved an inflow of Rs 37,895 crore. The information technology sector got seven MoU for Rs 120 crore, tourism received three agreements for Rs 165 crore, two bio-fuel deals involved Rs 55 crore, a textile MoU for Rs 963 crore, two aviation agreements for Rs 76 crore and food-processing Rs 60 crore.

''Encouraged by these offers, we have set a terget of achieving 15 per cent growth rate at par with neighbouring Gujarat. The present rate is eight per cent while the national average is ten per cent,'' the Chief Minister told the press as the curtains descended over the summit.

The investors had made a beginning for ploughing funds into this state and the pace would quicken in the near future, he added while justifying the higher growth rate in Gujarat on account of developed ports and adequate infrastructure.

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