Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, deputy chief minister Diya Kumari along with officials of the delegation met Anil Agarwal, Chairman of natural resources conglomerate Vedanta group in London on the concluding day of their UK-visit and invited him to become a ‘partner in Rajasthan's progress'.
During the meeting, Vedanta group Chairman Agarwal reaffirmed his commitment to invest more than Rs 1 lakh crore in expanding the facilities of his units – Hindustan Zinc, Cairn Oil and Gas and Serentica Renewables – as well as setting up an industrial park around the Udaipur area on a non-profit basis, for small and medium scale industries.
Discussions were also held between the Chief Minister and Agrawal on development of ‘Puchri ka Lauta' (an important religious site related with Govardhan Parikrama) and adjoining areas in an integrated way and a detailed presentation was made by the government delegation on Rajasthan's areas that fall under Krishna Bhoomi Vikas. Impressed with the development plan of ‘Puchri ka Lauta', Agarwal showed his keenness to help the state take up this project.
“We had a highly productive discussion, and Anil Agarwal was impressed by our business-friendly policies. He has joined hands with our government to double his investment in Rajasthan and further strengthen the state's business proposition. I invited him to be a ‘partner in Rajasthan's progress' and support our endevour of ‘Viksit Rajasthan',” Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said after the meeting.
In the meeting with Vedanta group chairman, a number of reputed investors from the UK were also present during which investment opportunities in Rajasthan was discussed. These investors showed keen interest in exploring the state and its offerings.
The Rajasthan government delegation later in the day visited the British Museum and held discussions with the officials of the museum to explore collaboration with Rajasthan-based art museums and galleries.
Earlier on Friday, the CM-led delegation had participated in the ‘Rising Rajasthan' Tourism Meet to invite the UK-based investors to Rajasthan and become shared partners in the growth and prosperity of Rajasthan's tourism sector.
Calling for investment in state's heritage and wildlife tourism, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma exhorted British filmmakers to shoot in Rajasthan and spoke about the immense potential in the tourism sector during ‘Rising Rajasthan' Tourism Meet.
“The vibrant tourism industry in India is expected to reach the size of Euro 31 billion by the year 2029 and Rajasthan will be making a substantial contribution. A new Rajasthan Tourism Policy is also going to be launched by the government soon which will overhaul the sector and make it more attractive for the investors,” Sharma said.
Highlighting the importance of the tourism sector for Rajasthan and increasing popularity of the state as a prime tourism destination, Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari said, “Rajasthan attracted 180 million domestic and 1.7 million international visitors in 2023 alone making the sector contribute a sizeable 12% to the State's GDP. Our vision is to create a symbiotic relationship with British investors in the sector that will not only boost the tourism industry but also foster cultural ties between our two great nations.”
Subsequently, officials of the University of Manchester met with the CM-led delegation and explored the possibility of joint collaboration with the Rajasthan-based educational institutions in the field of science, engineering, humanities and social sciences which the University is Manchester is renowned for. An MoU in this regard will soon be submitted by the Manchester University with the state government.
A productive discussion was also held with Europe's largest power analytics provider Aurora Energy, during which the company showed interest in setting up a base in the state of Rajasthan to provide analytical support to the state government and the private companies.
With this, the delegation's London investor outreach, that included one-on-one meetings with business groups, investor roadshow, tourism roadshow and Non-Resident Rajasthani (NRR) diaspora event, has come to an end. The members of the delegation will now head back to Rajasthan.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
