Focus on setting up industrial units in Non industrial areas : CM Dr. Yadav

Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has said that focus should be on setting up industrial units as per local needs in the areas of the state where there are relatively lesser number of industries. Industrialists and investors should be encouraged by organizing industry promotion seminars at the district level.

Discussion was held on the activities of Narmada Valley Development Department, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion, Mineral Resources, Public Relations, Commercial and Excise Department at Samatva Bhawan located at CM House today, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Dr. Yadav. The departments gave their presentations. Chief Secretary Smt. Veera Rana along with Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of the concerned departments were present in the meetings.

Narmada Valley Development Department

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav, while reviewing the Narmada Valley Development Department, directed to study the best performing states, especially Gujarat, in terms of water usage. He discussed about the current irrigation percentage, various methods of irrigation, targets set for increasing the irrigation percentage in the coming years, making water available for irrigation facilities to the farmers, hydro power generation through various dams and the available water capacity of reservoirs and dams and its use. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav directed to set a timetable for providing water for irrigation to facilitate farmers. He also told to ensure that there is necessary water flow in the river at the big ghats of the Narmada River and the places of major religious importance located on the banks of the Narmada River. Practical solutions should also be found to the difficulties arising in relation to the availability and use of water for both power generation and irrigation purposes. It was informed in the meeting that the target is to expand irrigation area to seven lakh hectares in the next two years. Narmada Valley Development Department will expand irrigation area to 19 lakh 55 thousand hectares in five years. Additional Chief Secretary NVDA Dr. Rajesh Rajoura gave a presentation of NVDA and gave information on the implementation of the points of Sankalp-2023.

Department of Public Relations

Reviewing the activities of the Public Relations Department, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav gave instructions to outline theme-centric and event-based activities along with the publicity work being done through print, electronic and social media. Giving information about the working of the department, Commissioner Public Relations Shri Sandeep Yadav apprised with the publications, journalist welfare, departmental training and media training activities. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav also gave instructions to further strengthen the system of departmental publications and also for e-publication. He asked for starting incentive and reward scheme in the field of film production and adopting innovations by sending study teams to the states.

Department of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion

While reviewing the Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Department, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that concrete initiatives should be taken to establish industries in those places in the state where industries are less. He directed to organize industry promotion seminars and programmes in tribal dominated areas like Dhar, Jhabua and urban areas like Sagar, Jabalpur. Instructions were given to discuss the possibilities of starting agriculture, animal husbandry, mineral based industrial units and to work at a fast pace for their establishment and also to encourage bamboo production based units and timber business.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav directed to prioritise the work of setting up units in such places in the state, where there is vast potential for development of industrial units. This will also help in employment generation. An Investors Summit is also proposed on the occasion of Trade Fair 2024 in Ujjain on March 1 and 2. Special focus will be on tourism, agriculture and startup sectors. Local investors including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra will also participate in it.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, Mineral Department, and Village Industries Department should jointly work on setting up such units, which can be easily operated with the cooperation of these departments. He told to work on setting up plants for waste management and cow dung utilization should be done with inter-departmental coordination. It was told in the meeting that 10 regional offices of MPIDC are working in the state.

Special packages are available for sectors that generate more employment in the state like garment, textile, food processing etc. District Investors Summit is being initiated for industrialists at the district level through District Industry Centres. The department also gave information about the programmes proposed in various places of the country in the coming months and the participation in them.

Mineral resources

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that action should be taken by running a campaign against illegal mining and transportation with the help of divisional task force. Regarding revenue from minerals, the department should review it regularly. It was told in the meeting that recently Madhya Pradesh bagged the first position in the country for its best performance in the auction of mineral blocks. State and district level task forces are continuously monitoring to prevent illegal excavation, transportation and storage. Divisional investigation teams have been formed last month for continuous investigation. In the presentation of Mineral Department, it was told that remarkable work of auctioning 68 mineral blocks in Madhya Pradesh was undertaken.

At least 13 mines will be started in the state in the next 6 months. As many as 5895 mines of minor minerals have been approved in the state. Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana has been implemented in the state, under which more than 6 thousand projects have been completed. Under mineral exploration, agencies including GSI, NMDC, MOIL, MECL, DGM and NPEA are working. The departmental portal has also been upgraded to simplify departmental work.

Excise Department

In a review of the Excise Department, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav sought information regarding the income earned from the department and the currently implemented system. A presentation was also given before Chief Minister Dr. Yadav.