Ranchi: Industries in the textile, leather and food processing sectors will now be the prime focus for the state government as the quick-implementation mantra is being practised for MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) worth Rs 3.10 lakh crore that were inked during the recently-concluded Global Investors’ Summit.

The Raghubar Das government, a senior government official said, has identified top 25 companies for closer co-ordination. Work on the various projects will begin in the next six to eight months.

According to the official, there are two reasons behind prioritizing the above mentioned sectors. First, work on these projects will generate employment for the local masses and can begin quickly. Second, the state government envisages that the 210 MoUs, once implemented, will generate employment to over 6.02 lakh people.

Most of the industrial projects which have been put on the hyper-drive will be set up in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bokaro, the official said. Implementation of these projects is being supervised by department of industries, mines and geology, which bagged 121 MoUs worth Rs 2.10 lakh crore during the summit. These 121 proposed projects are expected to generate at least 2.04 lakh direct and indirect job opportunities in the state.

On February 22, Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma held a meeting with top bureaucrats to discuss the implementation of the MoUs. The meeting was an extension to the MoU review meeting held by Chief Minister Raghubar Das on February 21 .

In the meeting, Das announced the formation of Jharkhand Investment Board (JIB) to hasten the implementation of short-term projects. The chief minister will head the JIB and hold monthly review meetings to take stock of project implementation. Verma, who has been appointed as the vice-president of the board, will hold weekly meetings with top secretaries of various departments to resolve problems which crop up during implementation of the MoUs.

Source: Times of India