The BJP-led government in Jharkhand on Wednesday signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 62,000 crore.

Adani Group signed an MoU with the Jharkhand government for a total investment of Rs 50,000 crore. Of the Rs 50,000 crore, an investment of Rs 15,000 crore was proposed in setting up two thermal power plants. The rest would be invested to set up a unit that would produce coal-based methane fertiliser.

Further, the Vedanta group would invest Rs 2,000 crore in setting up a steel plant. The Jharkhand industry department has also received 11 letters of intent from various companies, committing an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in setting up units in the chemical, IT, textile and construction sectors. These MoUs were exchanged in the presence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das at a Make in India Week function in Mumbai. The state government also released a new industrial and investment promotion policy to ensure ease of doing business.

Das spelt out a slew of initiatives taken by the state government to invite investments. The government has reduced the frequency of inspection to once in five years.

Besides, factories and other establishments have to file just one return before the labour department annually. This number was earlier 36. We have really put an end to the inspector raj. 58 categories of industries have been exempted from the requirement of obtaining consents to establish and operate," he added.

Das said Tata Steel had agreed to augment steel production in the state by one million tonnes. The company currently produces 10 million tonnes of steel, which would be increased to 11 million tonnes.

Besides, the factories and other establishments have to file just one return before the labour department annually. This number was earlier 36. We have really put an end to inspector raj. 58 categories of industries have been exempted from the requirements of obtaining consents to operate and establish," he added.

Das said the Tata Steel has agreed to augment steel production in the state by one million ton. The company currently produces 10 million ton steel which would be increased to 11 million ton.

VAT BREAKSJharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday promised 'VAT breaks' and hassle-free environment to investors looking to set up units in the state.Attending the 'Jharkhand Investors Summit' at the 'Make in India' Week in Mumbai, Das promised investors that they would be given breaks in value added tax (VAT).

"All the formalities related to investment would be completed within a month. The state is progressing on the development path and within four years it would carve a space in the league of developed states like Gujarat and Maharashtra," an official statement quoted Das as saying."A single window system has been established to clear investment proposals and the government has also formed a land bank and is ready to offer 200 acres land."Today in Jharkhand, factories and other establishments have to file just one return before the labour department annually. This number was 36 earlier," he said.The chief minister added that frequency of inspections has been reduced to once in five years."We have really put an end to inspector raj. A total of 58 categories of industries have been exempted from the requirements of obtaining consent to operate," Das said.The state offers great opportunities in multiple sectors, including information technology, mines, power and agriculture, he told investors.Das also unveiled the new Jharkhand Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy 2016 as part of the state government's initiative to ensure business-friendly environment.The chief minister also held one-on-one meetings with over 25 industry captains from various industries, ranging from power, entertainment, skill and information technology, the release said.The companies that participated in these meetings included Oracle, HCL and Future Group.

MAKE IN JHARKAND

Jharkhand government today said it has secured Rs 62,000 crore worth of investment commitments with large corporates such as Adani and Vedanta evincing interests in power, fertiliser, steel and chemicals. “We have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 50,000 crore with Adani Group for setting up of thermal power plant and fertiliser manufacturing unit,” Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das told reporters here on the sidelines of ‘Make in India Week’ here.

“We have also signed a Rs 2,000 crore pact with the Vedanta as well as received 11 letters of intent worth Rs 10,000 crore from companies in sectors like chemicals, IT, textiles and constructions,” Das said. The state has signed an agreement worth Rs 15,000 crore with the Gautam Adani-led group to set up a thermal power plant with a total capacity of 1,600 mega watt energy that will be supplied to Bangladesh Grid.

The rest Rs 35,000 crore will be invested for setting up a unit that will produce coal-based methane fertiliser. Das said Jharkhand, with 40 per cent mineral base of the country, is the only state that has both coal and iron ore deposits. “We are on the path of becoming a developed state from a developing one in the next four years.

For this, we are focusing on developing industry, agriculture, IT and tourism sectors, which are also very high employment generating sectors,” he said.

The chief minister also assured investors of a secured environment. The state, he said, which was ranked number 29 in ease of doing business, has improved to number 3 in the last 13 month since the BJP government took charge.

“Besides the usual incentives, which are at par with other states, we have also introduced single-window system for speedy clearance of projects,” Das said. “When we took charge of the government 13 months back, Jharkhand was at 29th position in ease of doing business list by World Bank-DIPP study. We have improved this to number 3 in just 13 months,” he said.

Jharkhand, which is also focusing on infrastructure and roads, is planning to provide 24×7 power supply by 2018, Das said, adding that the state will provide

The BJP on Friday said its endeavour is to transform the people's future through "Make in Jharkhand" design - one of the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to change imbalance of development in eastern states."On the pattern of 'Make in India', BJP's endeavour is to embark on 'Make in Jharkhand' as it has a huge potential in the manufacturing sector," Union Communication and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Ranchi.Addressing a joint press conference with Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat, Prasad termed the move as the Prime Minister's direction to correct the growth imbalance in the eastern states of the country."We are confident that the people of Jharkhand will fulfil the Prime Minister's dream to help develop the state," Prasad said.Claiming that a "change of mind" was being witnessed in Jharkhand as the leaders addressed public meetings today at places going for the first-phase polling, Prasad said BJP would see in Jharkhand a repeat performance of Maharashtra and Haryana."The people have report cards of (both the ruling) JMM and Congress in front of them. How can the Congress face people of Jharkhand when it has been rejected in the country?" asked Prasad, claiming "By the end of 2014 and in 2015, Jharkhand and Bihar will see BJP governments."Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, "During campaigns we saw people wanting stable governments and both the Centre and the state working in tandem... fulfilling the PM's desire to develop the eastern part of the country."He said e-auction of coal would benefit Jharkhand by Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the next 30 years, creating the future of the people and with the BJP committed to develop Jharkhand.

WHY MAKE IN JHARKAND

Except for a few rickety trucks bouncing up and down the rutted roads, it is hard to tell that buried under the russet ground of this west Jharkhand region is some of the world’s largest, untouched deposits of high-grade coal and bauxite.Small clusters of village huts intersperse vast stretches of hilly forests and harvested fields, where tribal men and women bundle stacks of hay. One-street towns bustle with roadside stalls selling shiny aluminum utensils, farm tools and household knick-knacks.Nearby, two huge chimneys rise from an unfinished power plant that saw its fuel supply nixed by a legal wrangle over coal, even though there is so much of it here — untapped — that it can help erase India’s power deficit for at least the next two decades.A new and relatively small state, Jharkhand’s stature in national politics maybe modest but with its enormous amount of natural resources the region remains key in determining whether the country can build an industrial economy to absorb 100 million jobseekers over the next decade and avert a demographic disaster.Achieving industrial success, though, is more complicated than merely enabling policy in a country where states often work to foil federal plans unless it’s the same party ruling in both.So, winning in Jharkhand is seen as crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand industrial plans. His party already rules in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.“Emphasis on the Make in India programme is to a great extent focused on manufacturing revival and growth,” Harsh Pati Singhania, the director of JK Organisation, one of India’s biggest business conglomerates, told Hindustan Times.“It (Jharkhand) has the capability to harness competitive growth in industries like steel, aluminum, cement, etc. that are essential for building infrastructure and also the growing need of urbanisation.”Since winning power, Modi’s government has signed off on faster environmental approvals for industrial projects and taken steps towards ending state control of coal mining, seeking to boost manufacturing’s share in the economy to 25% from around 15% now.But to build an industrial economy and compete with aspiring manufacturing nations such as Thailand and Indonesia, the government will also need abundant supplies of raw material. Currently coal and iron ore supplies remain erratic, forcing many power and steel plants to import.Some 40% of India’s mineral deposits are in Jharkhand, including more than 72 billion tonnes of coal and 3.7 billion tonnes of iron ore. Along with resources-rich neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh, it makes up what must be the heart of India’s industrial future.In Chandwa, where symbols of modernity such as satellite TV and mobile phones have only recently touched hardscrabble tribal life, the debate is already about jobs and the heavy price of development the region must pay once its nine coal blocks are mined.Sitting in front of a tea shop, NGO worker Rajesh Pandey tries to articulate the dilemma. “I think people want development but in a way that doesn’t destroy their way of life,” he said. A group of locals nodded in agreement.

Although insurgency-plagued, a prime reason for Jharkhand’s failure to harness its mining potential has been its history of electing unstable coalitions to power.Worse, illegal quarrying, often patronised by politicians for personal gain or to fund their campaigns, has spawned widespread corruption.“But Jharkhand still has a lot left, a lot can be retrieved,” said a senior state civil servant on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution.

INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN

“This state remains vital to the success of our industrial dreams.” huge board at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat says Ranchi will get a monorail service on a 13-km corridor from Kutchery to Dhurwa, near the upcoming IT city at Hatia by 2019. Over time, a 12-km line will be added from Namkum to Piska More, to ease the nightmarish traffic conditions of Jharkhand’s capital.

“When I proposed monorail services in Ranchi in 2005, the entire Assembly laughed at me. This week, my Cabinet cleared an estimated ₹4,500-crore proposal to build two lines in PPP mode with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency,” Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das told BusinessLine, visibly pleased with himself.

Asked if the deadline isn’t too ambitious, the quick, sharp answer is: “I flag off every project with a steep deadline to meet.”

Infrastructure push

After coming to power in December 2014, Das has already reopened a 2003 proposal to build a seven-phase 82-km ring road in Ranchi. The project was abandoned after completion of three phases.

“We flagged off the fourth phase in May. It will be completed in a year,” says the Chief Minister. He is determined to see the ring road in place before the end of his tenure in December 2019.

The project will allow planned expansion of Ranchi that was in 2000 catapulted from a sleepy summer capital of Bihar to the capital city of Jharkhand, without much capacity building in infrastructure.

This, coupled with restrictions on purchase of tribal land because of the Chotonagpur Tenancy Act, squeezed the city and left the traffic to the mercy of swarming cycle-rickshaws and pedestrians. Das wants to change all that.

Power boostHis government is pushing the implementation of nearly ₹5,500-crore worth of urban and rural road infrastructure. This includes several PPP projects.

“There were invitations to organise roadshows to attract industry. But I didn’t respond to that. I want to bring the house in order before going out to industry, early next year,” he says.

Top on his agenda is improving the power situation. Despite being one of the richest repositories of coal in the country, Jharkhand’s electricity sector has been perennially sick.

With the State-run stations at Patratu and Tenughat barely operational, Jharkhand has depended on central allocations and share from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). Its transmission and distribution (T&D) losses are one of the highest in the country and the State used to brazenly default on payments to DVC. But Das has wrought a change. Payments to DVC have been regularised to ensure supplies. A joint venture agreement has been inked to handover 74 per cent ownership of Patratu power station to NTPC. The central PSU has promised to first build a 2,400 MW plant at Patratu. Over time, the generation capacity will be ramped up to 4,000 MW, which would meet the State’s demand.

Das says he will also handover the management of Tenughat Vidyut Nigam to a majority joint venture partner to be selected through a bidding process. The aim is not merely to achieve self-sufficiency in generation but also ramp up the crumbling transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The State has already rolled out a phased plan to separate agriculture feeders and introduce three-phase distribution system. To restrict leakage, bids will soon be invited from private sector franchises to manage distribution in seven districts.

The initiatives have started impacting life as much in Ranchi as in the hinterland. Power availability to the seven Santhal Pargana districts is already up from 50 MW to 120 MW a day. “We are laying a new transmission line to increase the availability to the region to 300 MW by the end of this year,” the CM says.

Das is categorical that the mainly single crop cannot solve the State’s employment and that Jharkhand needs to expand its industrial base to make the best us of its mineral resources. But will he be able to attract industry in the face of Left-wing extremism and hurdles in land acquisition? Das says his government is acquiring 100 acres at market price for setting up a knowledge city at Khunti.

He denies there is any Left-wing extremism left in the State. “Unlike in some other parts of the country, Jharkhand has only small groups running extortion rackets. We are committed to ending this menace,” he says.

Pressure tactics by his government have led to the surrender of cadres of Left-wing extremists. “You will see top leaders including their politburo members surrendering within next three months,” a source said. What if they don’t? Das’ government has already jailed an MLA for creating problems in raising coal production. “I am always open to discussion but not ready to tolerate trouble-makers. Woh jindabad murdabad, nehi chalega,” Das says firmly.