Meghalaya CM asks businessmen to invest in state

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met the country`s top military commanders for the first time at a conference during which he outlined his strategic vision and was briefed on the overall security situation.

Guwahati: Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today expressed apprehensions about investment in cement sector in the state but invited businessmen to put in money in education, health, renewable energy and tourism industries.

Addressing the Infrastructure Conclave by industry chamber PHDCCI here, Sangma said, "If you want support for cement industry, I will think twice. But if you come for education, health, renewable energy and tourism, you will get maximum support."

He said the cement industry has created huge capacity, but accordingly there is not much demand, so it will lead to the sector being sick.

Sangma said Meghalaya has enormous opportunities in renewable energy segment and the state government is focusing on that at this moment.

"Though we have huge deposit of minerals, renewable natural resources are something that Meghalaya can offer you. We have bottlenecks, mainly in power. So we should try to address it," he said.

Stating that Meghalaya will be self-sufficient in power generation in the next one year, the Chief Minister said solution to power crisis is to have captive power plants.

"But these plants should not be coal based. We should go for biomass-based power plants. In that case, we can use bamboo, which is in abundance in Northeast. Besides, the byproduct from biomass from bamboos will give you equal returns from that of conventional power generation," he added.

"I can show you ways for Rs 1,000 crore investment in only bamboo. It is up to you to decide whether you want to come or not," Sangma told industry leaders.

He also invited the corporate world to invest heavily in education sector to develop human resources in Northeast.