Haryana CM Khattar woos investors at Dubai

The statement also said that the state government plans to come out with a liberal retail policy next month which would contain various provisions, including opening of 24X7 stores in the state.

Given the rising number of middle class population and the standards of living of people heading north, Haryana has great potential for such stores, this was disclosed by Khattar while interacting with Dubai-based business tycoons and leaders of various corporate groups, in Dubai on Tuesday.

"These included Landmark Group, NMC, Al Maya Group, Diplomats Summit, UK, Hakan Agro and NIFTEM having interests in such fields as retail, rice processing, exports, healthcare and bringing investments into Haryana," the Haryana government release said here on Wednesday.

The chief minister is leading a high-level delegation to Dubai to woo investors.

After his arrival in Dubai on Tuesday, Khattar was received at the airport by Vipul, Consul General, Consulate General of India, in Dubai.

The delegation, which Khattar is leading, includes Industry Minister Vipul Goel, Chief Secretary D S Dhesi and Industry Secretary Sudhir Rajpal.

At his meeting with Landmark Group, the chief minister offered help to skill its employees and said the state could also supply staff to the group through a training programme.

The Haryana government also offered to organise a buyer- supplier meet for the Landmark Group in January where smaller suppliers can exhibit their products, he said.

Additionally, one-on-one meeting with major suppliers can be arranged with help of the state government, Khattar said.

"The Landmark Group, the second largest non-food retail company in the UAE, operates major retail brands in India such as Lifestyle, Max and Splash and it has already opened sourcing office in Gurgaon, and has hospitality division christened Home Centre," the release said.

"At his meeting with NMC, a healthcare giant, the chief minister said the state government would explore the option of setting up a medi-city in Panchkula. New hospital projects can be explored in the districts of Rewari, Mahendergarh, Fatehabad, Dadri, Sirsa, Panipat, Kaithal," it said.

NMC operates 40 healthcare facilities in the UAE and seven hospitals in India, five of which are acquired and two are greenfield. Kamal Vachani, Group Director, Al Maya Group, discussed with Khattar issues related to increasing exports from Haryana to Dubai.

"Prospects of HAFED exploring the possibility of establishing brand Haryana Fresh for various products and market these through the super markets of the Al Maya Group were assessed at the meeting. Vachani suggested that he would lead a delegation of exporters from the UAE to Haryana to explore the possibility of sourcing products from small manufacturers in Haryana," as per the release.

Sailesh Nathan of Diplomats Summit, UK, who met the chief minister, said his group was actively involved in mobilising investments from Europe and Middle East into India, and that a number of such proposals could be routed to Haryana.

Khattar apprised them of the vast opportunities of investment Haryana offered and the land bank available in the state for the industry to set up projects.

"Any enterprise coming to Haryana would be accorded all approvals within 45 days for setting up projects through the Haryana Enterprises Promotion Centre (HEPC)," Khattar said.