Jaipur: Immediately after filing his
nomination paper for the Rajya Sabha elections from Rajasthan,
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today announced
that the country's first national manufacturing zone will be
set up in the state.
"This (the manufacturing zone) will boost
industrialisation and employment in Rajasthan, which deserves
it for long," Sharma told reporters here, after filing his
nomination paper for the June 17 biennial election to the
Upper House.
He said that the national manufacturing and investment
zone would be integrated with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial
Corridor (DMIC) project, under which mega-size infrastructure
facilities would be created along with a dedicated railway
freight corridor.
The USD 90-billion DMIC project, under the administrative
control of the Commerce and Industry Ministry, is being
implemented financial cooperation from Japan.
As many as 10 industry and trade organisations have
inserted newspaper advertisements, exuding hope that Sharma's
nomination from Rajasthan would provide impetus to the state.
Sharma, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, said that the
developing Rajasthan would be his top priority.
The party was forced to shift him from Himachal Pradesh
as it does not have the votes in the BJP-ruled state to get a
candidate elected.
"If voted to Rajya Sabha, my top priority would be
Rajasthan's development and creation of jobs," he said, adding
he has read the advertisements and was "grateful to them all".
He claimed of long political roots in the state. "Some 36
years ago I was incharge of Rajasthan's NSUI(Congress student
wing)and toured with Ashok Gehlot," he recalled.
Sharma's Rajya Sabha term had expired on April 2 and
needs to get re-elected before October to remain a minister in
the Union Cabinet.
PTI
First Published: Monday, June 07, 2010, 18:48