Jharkhand government received investment proposals worth Rs 500 crore within a week of announcing its industrial policy. Among the proposals were two sponge iron plants at Giridih and Chaibasa at a cost of Rs 230 crore, a Portland cement factory at Dhanbad at a cost of Rs 30 crore and a jute mill at Deoghar for Rs 90 crore, Jharkhand industries minister P N Singh told reporter over telephone from Dhanbad on Saturday. An NRI investor had also proposed establishing a fully export-oriented contact lens plant at Khunti at a cost of Rs 30 crore, Singh said. The minister said that a string of measures were underway to ensure easy availability of land and power to investors. He quoted chief minister Babulal Marandi of issuing directives to institutions such as Bhumi banks to make available prime land in the state to entrepreneurs ready to invest in the state.
In order to ensure that there was no paucity of power for the industries, the government had made provisions in the industrial policy permitting investors to set up captive power plants to take care of their own production requirements without having to seek clearance of the state electricity board.
Efforts were also on to tone up the overall energy scenario in the state to create an atmosphere conducive to large-scale investment, he said.
Bureau Report