Meeting of industrialists to be held in Bangalore, Hyderabad

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said government would organise meetings of industrialists in Bangalore and Hyderabad next month with a view to expediting various projects in the states.

The meetings will be held on May 12 and 13 at Bangalore and Hyderabad, respectively.

The government has also formed a committee to expedite various projects and the panel has met four times so far, he said while laying the foundation stone for a call centre of ESSAR group at Sakkanthi near here.

He said development activities to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore in port, coal and steel sectors have been expedited for this year.

Similarly, Rs 7 lakh crore industrial projects have been started but they remained "stagnant" for various reasons. The committee would assess the reasons for the stagnation and steps would be taken to resolve them, he said.

"It is not enough if a country developed only in agricultural sector. For a comprehensive development, industries also should be developed and for this land, water and power are essential," he said.

"I am not mentioning about Tamil Nadu, but it is essential for the state to have power, land and water for development of industries," he said.

He said in India, where there is a population of 120 crore people, it is not possible to import all its food requirements. "So we should improve the farm sector and industrial sector. There are still some pockets in north-eastern parts of the country where there is poverty and hunger".

He said the call centre by ESSAR Group was an effort to take the state to the 21st century. The building would be completed in three months and 600 people will be employed directly and 1000 people indirectly. Plus-two students who can speak in English and Tamil would be provided employment in the centre, he said.

Chairman of the ESSAR group Shashi Ruia said this was their second call centre in Tamil Nadu and 25th in India