Maoist influence near zero in C’garh: CM Raman

Amid continued gun battle between security forces and Maoists in Chhattisgarh, state Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh on Thursday claimed the influence of the left wing extremists have been reduced to nearly zero in the state and asked the entrepreneurs to invest in the state.

“Chhattisgarh is being considered as a Maoist affected state. But they (Maoist) no longer have any effect in the state,” Singh told the Global Investor meet at the national capital organized by the ASSOCHAM.

“For industrial investment, Chhattisgarh is the best and safest destination,” he said adding due to government services like road, electricity, education and heath, socio-economic development has taken place even in the far off Southern region of Chhattisgarh.

Maoists are active in Bastar region for over three decades and due to their armed activities corporate houses like Tata and Essar have failed to put up their steel plants. Mining activities of NMDC in Baila Dila area are also disrupted. Even the violence has created a fear psychosis among the people, although security agencies are trying hard to minimize their impact on day to day life.

Talking about investment in south Chhattisgarh region, Singh said in total Rs 40,000 crore are being invested in Bastar region alone. Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is investing Rs 18,000 crore to set up an ultra mega steel plant in Bastar, where as NMDC is coming up with a steel plant with the investment of Rs 18,000 crore in the same district, he added.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is fastly changing and as a member of the “Team India” Chhattisgarh is also contributing into that growth, he said.

Chhattisgarh has a production capacity of 24,000 MW, which is five times of its energy demand, Singh said adding “Electricity is the strength of the state”. By the year 2020 the state plans to increase the production capacity to 35,000 MW, he told the conference.