Nearly Rs 5 lakh crore investments announced at two-day Assam business summit: Himanta

Guwahati, Feb 26 (PTI) Investments to the tune of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore were announced by some of the major industry conglomerates like Reliance, Adani, Vedanta and the Tata Group at a two-day Assam business summit, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.

During the valedictory function of the event, Chief Secretary Ravi Kota said around 270 agreements worth Rs 2.75 lakh crore were signed among the state government and various companies.

"The Advantage Assam 2.0 Investment and Infrastructure Summit 2025 concluded with investment commitments in Assam totaling Rs 491,500 crore," Sarma said in a post on X after the conclusion of the programme.

He said the state government received investment proposals worth Rs 6-7 lakh crore, but did not accept all of those following due scrutiny.

"Our officials scrutinised all the proposals and only went ahead with those that can be actioned in the next three-four years," Sarma told reporters after the valedictory function.

The Assam government focuses more on quality than quantity, and receiving such huge investment proposals is a "defining moment" for the state.

"Assam will have a different kind of journey and will become a contributory state in the landscape of India," the CM asserted.

Hydrocarbon, mines and new energy attracted the highest investment, while the agriculture and horticulture sectors also drew significant investment proposals, he said.

The CM said the state's journey to become a “contributory” state from being a “dependent” one has started with the summit.

"Before Independence, our per capita income was 4 per cent higher than the national average. We have Asia's first refinery, coal reserves, tourism industry and many such strengths. But, Partition affected our most dependable trade links and what took eight hours of travel time went up to 48 hours.

"Our 'bor Asom' (greater Assam) was divided into six parts. Then we saw four decades of agitation and insurgency," he said, adding, the journey of transformation started after 2014 when the Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre.

He said Assam registered a growth rate of 19 per cent in 2023, while the crime rate declined by 66 per cent.

Tata's semiconductor unit and NRL's bio-refinery facility are among projects propelling the growth story of the state, Sarma said.

He said the state also has the potential to become the “concert capital” of the country.

Medical tourism is another sector that has growth potential for Assam, Sarma said.

Kota said the total figure includes MoUs and announcements by top industry leaders like Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Anil Agarwal.

"The figure includes Rs 1.25-lakh crore investment announcements by the industry leaders and Rs 78,000 crore investment by the government sector in infrastructure development," he said.

"Besides, 1,921 agreements worth Rs 5,851 crore were inked at the district, too," Kota said.

The summit featured 67 heads of missions, 76 particpating countries, 12 bilateral agencies and nine partner nations, the chief secretary said.

"More than 200 delegates attended from abroad and over 2,100 came from different parts of the country. In total, 14,500 people attended the two-day summit, which hosted 121 speakers and six Union ministers," he added. PTI TR SSG RBT

Source: PTI