Economic Crackdown Against Illegal Bangladeshi Migrants: Assam CM Sarma Says......Urges Businessmen To...

MUMBAI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday exhorted industrialists not to hire illegal Bangladeshi migrants in their units for "cheap labour". Addressing a press conference here after meeting slew of industrial leaders from corporate houses including the Tatas, Adani Group and Mahindras, Sarma said there is a need to "strike at the roots" of the illegal migration from Bangladesh problem by not hiring such migrants.

He explained that there are middlemen hired by the industry to get cheap labour from Bangladesh, and the industry has to decide not to employ such labour. When asked if the issue featured during his discussions with industry captains over the weekend, Sarma said there is no need to "remphasise" an issue on which Assam has been fighting since 1979.

The state is looking at investment commitments of Rs 1 lakh crore from the central government and entities allied with it at the upcoming "Advantage Assam 2.0" investment summit to be held in Guwahati in February. Attracting investments in sectors such as tourism, semiconductors and defence is the other focus area of the summit to be held on February 25-26.

He said the Tata group's mega Rs 27,000-crore investment for a semiconductor assembly plant is on schedule, and the first phase will be inaugurated in either November or December this year. Apart from that, the Tatas have also evinced interest to set up a 500-MW solar capacity in the state, he said, adding that an industrial policy is in the works where fallow land being held by tea estates can be converted to put solar power capacity.

Sarma said given the state's proximity to the northeastern theatre which sees maximum deployment of Army, the state is also looking to attract investments into defence production and repair. This aspect has featured during his interactions with the Adani group and Mahindras, Sarma added.