Chouhan wants to see MP as Bangluru's alternative

Madhya Pradesh Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday called upon young entrepreneurs and professionals to explore Madhya Pradesh as an alternative to Bangaluru.

“Scope for start-ups and information technology-based business is shrinking in Bangaluru, and new destinations are being explored,” Chouhan said while inaugurating a start-up conclave here. Investors, venture capitalists, policy makers and CEOs of many tech firms from across India are attending the meet.

Coming as it does, barely two months ahead of the Assembly elections, the conclave is being viewed as the Shivraj Singh government’s attempt to woo young professionals in the state.

However, Madhya Pradesh’s industrial progress, particularly in the IT sector, has been far from satisfactory during the 15 years of the BJP rule. Half a dozen investors’ meets and the chief minister’s several high-profile foreign trips to invite investments all these years have yielded little in terms of industrial growth.

Two IT majors, Infosys and TCS, were given land in Indore seven years ago to set up business. They are yet to start functioning, while Wipro declined the state government’s request to set up enterprise in Bhopal.

Unemployment in IT sector is so rampant in the state that this year alone 40,000 seats in engineering colleges remained unfilled. Over 60 private engineering colleges have closed down for want of students.

Against this rather dismal backdrop, the state government has called up professionals and investors to explore the possibility of making Madhya Pradesh a start-up hub.