Madhya Pradesh is one of the most favoured destinations
for the investors the world over. Its excellent location, bordering onto
seven Indian States, allows easy access to the booming national markets
of the country. The western belt of Madhya Pradesh has a large cotton
growing area, because of which the textile units in the State are attracting
large investments. The State is famous for its traditional handicrafts
and handloom cloths. It is the leading producer of best quality wheat,
rice, pulses and several other agricultural products. There exists ample
scope for setting up and developing agro-based industries. The State is
endowed with rich mineral resources, educated and skilled workforce as
well as many high technology industries like automobiles, electronics,
cement, etc. In addition, tourism and information technology sector provides
immense opportunities for motivating investments into the State.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the main stay of the State economy, with
about 74% of the population depended on it. Kharif crops occupies about
56% out of the total cropped area in the State, while rabi crops occupies
about 44% of the area. The State's net sown area is estimated at about
12.47 million hectares. Madhya Pradesh is the third highest producer of
food grains (14.10 m. metric tonne) in the country. The major crops grown
in the State are paddy, wheat, maize and jowar among cereals; gram, tur,
urad and moong among pulses; soyabean, groundnut and mustard among oilseeds.
The commercial crops like cotton and sugarcane are also grown in considerable
area in few districts. The State is placed fourth in wheat production
and eighth in rice production in the country. Thus, the agro-based industries
have great potential for development in the State.
The State Government is also making all efforts for the
development of horticulture in the State. State is known as large producer
of ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilli, coriander, banana, guava, tomato,
oranges, papaya, etc. It has a vast scope to invest in this field. Besides,
some medicinal crops and narcotic crops are also grown in the State.
Information Technology (IT)
Madhya Pradesh is making remarkable achievements in promoting
IT in Government as well as private areas, which includes e-governance,
computerization in Government departments and various IT related activities
for rural areas. The IT revolution aims to secure considerable gains towards
sustainable human development and help the State in becoming a knowledge
society. It intends to improve the citizen-government interface and make
it more efficient and effective. It can also help in making governance
transparent.
In order to help sustain its technological edge, the
State has invested in IT education and provided learning ground for the
future IT professionals. It has also opened up private participation for
computer education in schools and colleges. Accordingly, an IT policy
has been formulated with a view to attract private investment in the IT
sector. It lays thrust on setting up of information Kiosks for providing
email, internet and other value added services. The existing public grievance
redressal system is being upgraded so as to facilitate access to citizens
through kiosks.
Moreover, to encourage private sector participation in
e-governance/citizen services initiatives, the State Government has formulated
the following guidelines:-
- Proposals for participation and investment shall be without
any burden of financial expenditure on the State Government;
- Projects of e-governance for citizen services shall be
allowed on non exclusive basis to any investor;
- Every investor shall be required to set up a minimum
of fifteen such kiosks in every block;
- All the transactions taking place at the Kiosks shall
be based on use and pay basis.
Given this, several companies have evinced interest to
set up kiosks in the State. Besides, the Government has set up the Software
Technology Parks at Bhopal, Indore and Gwalior so as to provide the necessary
infrastructure for IT companies.
Minerals
The State of Madhya Pradesh is richly endowed with
mineral wealth. It is the sole producer of diamond in the country. Coal,
limestone, manganese ore, bauxite, copper ore, dolomite, fire clay, slate,
pyrophyllite-diaspore, etc are the main minerals occurring in the State. In
terms of the mineral production, the State ranks third in the country.
Besides, the State is fast emerging as a dimensional
stone producer.
Cement
Madhya Pradesh is the third largest producer of cement
in the country. It is rich in cement producing minerals and has the appropriate
know how and knowledge pool to run cement plant. At present, several major
groups like Birla Corporation, Vikram cement, Prism cement, Diamond cements,
Maihar cement and ACC Cement are growing manufacturing plants in Madhya
Pradesh.
Tourism
The State of Madhya Pradesh has innumerable sites for
tourist attraction ranging from preserved medieval cities and wildlife
sanctuaries to pilgrim centres. It includes monuments, archaeological
sites, carved temples, stupas, forts, palaces, etc. Gwalior, Mandu, Datia,
Chanderi, Jabalpur, Orchha, Raisen, Sanchi, Vidisha, Udaygiri, Bhimbetika,
Indore and Bhopal are the places well-known for their historical monuments.
Archaeological treasures are preserved in the museums at Satna, Sanchi,
Vidisha, Gwalior, Indore, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Rajgarh, Bhopal, Jabalpur
and Rewa. Unique temples of Khajuraho are famous all over the world. The
temples of Orchha, Bhojpur and Udaypur attract large number of tourists
as well as pilgrims. Maheshwar, Omkareshwar, Ujjain, Chitrakoot and Amarkantak
are major centres of pilgrimage. Other important places of tourist interest
in the State are Pachmarhi, Marble Rocks, Dhuandhar Fall at Bhedaghat,
Kanha National Park, Barasingha and Bandhavgarh National Park. Given this,
the Government of Madhya Pradesh had envisaged a tourism policy in order
to create an environment conducive for encouraging private investment
in the tourism sector. Its one of the major objectives is to promote eco
and adventure tourism. EcoTourism is that form of tourism in which the
tourist is able to enjoy nature and see wild life in its natural habitat.
Adventure tourism provides the tourist with a special thrill and feeling
of adventure whilst participating in sporting activities in rivers, water
bodies, hills and mountains.
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