“The state’s dynamic workforce and rapid growth are driving its transformation into a leading investment destination,” PM Modi said while inaugurating the summit. “Today Assam is emerging as the gateway between India and Southeast Asia,” he added.
Prime Minister said that the Northeast India is beginning a new chapter and history has witnessed that Eastern India has long played a crucial role in the nation’s prosperity.
“Even amidst the global uncertainty, many experts of the world have certainty about one thing and that is about India’s rapid growth. There is a very solid reason for this trust in India. Today, the world trusts India’s neo middle class which is coming out of poverty and moving forward with new aspirations. The world trusts India’s 140 crore people supporting political stability and policy continuity,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi urged the industrialists to take full benefit of the schemes being implemented in the state and asked them to invest in the state as it showcases a lot of potential of growth.
“Assam is emerging as a gateway between South East Asia and India. To further expand this potential, the government has launched the North East Transformative Industrialisation Scheme that is ‘Unnati’. This scheme will give impetus to industry, investment and tourism in the entire North East including Assam. I would like to tell all of you from the industry to take full advantage of this scheme and the unlimited potential of Assam,” he said.
“We are giving a push to low cost manufacturing under Make in India. Our industries are not only fulfilling our demands but also setting benchmarks globally,” PM Modi said.
“The first edition of the Advantage Assam Summit was organised in 2018. At that time, Assam’s economy was worth ₹3 lakh crores. Today, Assam has become a state with the economy of about ₹6 lakh crores. That means, in just six years of BJP government, the value of Assam’s economy has doubled. This is the double effect of the double-engine government,” PM added.
Speaking on the increase in budget allocation for the state and BJP’s efforts in the state, PM Modi said, “In the last few years, the BJP government has done a lot of work on the infrastructure related to connectivity. Before 2014, there were only 3 bridges on the Brahmaputra river, but in the last 10 years, we have built 4 new bridges, one of which we have named after Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika ji. Assam received an average of ₹2100 crore in the railway budget between 2009 and 2014. Our government increased Assam’s railway budget by more than four times to
₹10,000 crore”
The event was attended by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya.
“With the blessings of PM Modi, we had first started Advantage Assam on 3rd and 4th February, 2018,” said Assam CM Sarma while addressing the summit. “Today I can confidently say that the state which was once the most disturbed state of the country has now become the most peaceful state of the country,” he added.
Key business figures scheduled to be present include Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, JSW Steel managing director Sajjan Jindal, and Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal, among others.
Additionally, ambassadors from 61 nations, along with senior business representatives from Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, are participated in the event.
Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will chair several sessions on the opening day of the summit. Jaishankar will lead discussions on ‘Advancing Indo-Bhutan Economic Partnership’ and ‘Act East, Act Fast and Act First’. Meanwhile, Scindia who holds the Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) portfolios, will oversee the session titled ‘Way to Viksit Assam’.
Other key discussions scheduled for the day include sessions on Assam’s tea industry, Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs), tourism, healthcare, and biomanufacturing.
On the second day of the summit, Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hardeep Singh Puri, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Piyush Goyal will be in attendance, while Nitin Gadkari is expected to address a session virtually. The summit will conclude with a valedictory session led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has previously stated that the summit is expected to generate investment proposals exceeding ₹120 lakh crore, with several key memoranda of understanding (MoUs) anticipated to be signed during the two-day event.
(With Inputs from agencies)