Five Reasons To Invest In MP—The Heart Of India

Madhya Pradesh—the heart of India is fast emerging as a major economic growth engine for the nation. The present state government is on the overdrive to attract more industrial investment in MP, a state that already enjoys several advantages as an industrial hub. We look at five key reasons behind the immense scope of industrial and business investment in MP.

1. Strategic location with seamless connectivity

Located right at the centre of India, Madhya Pradesh borders five other states in the country and provides a unique access to nearly 50 per cent of India’s population. MP also has access to major ports on both east and west coasts within a range of 1000 km; for example, Indore to JNPT, Jabalpur to Paradip, Indore to Kandla, Rewa to Haldia, and Jabalpur to Vishakhapatnam. In the post-GST regime, where raw material and finished goods can seamlessly move between all the major cities of India, Madhya Pradesh serves as the perfect location for manufacturing activities. The state has a massive road network spanning 2,30,000 km, seven inland container depots, an international air cargo facility at Indore, five commercial airports with over 100 flights, and more than 550 trains daily.

2. Robust and prosperous industrial ecosystem

Since 2004-05, Madhya Pradesh has consistently been a revenue surplus state. The state saw 17.8% growth in tax revenue from 2017-18 to 2018-19. Under the present state government, there has been an increase in capital expenditure by 21% in 2019-20. The state’s economic health can be indicated by the decrease in its debt servicing burden, from 22.4% in 2003-04 to 13% of the revenue receipts in 2019-20 (estimate). Madhya Pradesh has a prosperous industry ecosystem and is home to over 300 large industries from different sectors. Some of the major sectors include textile and apparel –Trident, Vardhman, Grasim, Pratibha Syntex, Nahar, food processing – ITC, Parle, Hershey’s Coca Cola, Mondelez, automobiles and manufacturing – John Deere, Volvo, Eicher, M&M, Force, Tafe, and pharmaceuticals – Cipla, Lupin, Glenmark, Novartis, Mylan.

3. Ease of doing business and state-of-the-art infrastructure

Madhya Pradesh is not only rich in natural minerals, coal, and diamond—it also offers excellent infrastructural support for industries to thrive. For instance, the state is power surplus with an installed capacity of 23,000+ MWs. The state government also provides guaranteed 24*7 power and water supply

for units in MPIDC industrial parks. In addition, MP has 26 lakh tons of warehousing capacity with 7 ICDs across the state for export logistics. State-of-the-art industrial parks further strengthen the industrial infrastructure in the state.

The present state government’s constant efforts to bring all compliances online and reduce procedural complexities has further increased the ease of doing business in MP. The state’s INVEST portal covers the entire lifecycle of an investment proposal; from including pre-establishment and pre-operation approvals to incentive processing, a range of 32 services are already available online. All these policies and more have led to MP being ranked 7th in the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) in 2018.

4. Abundant industrial land and skilled manpower

There are five major industrial regions in Madhya Pradesh, which offer several advantages across sectors.

Bhopal region has a developed area of 2704 hectares with Mandideep, Pillukhedi, Mohasa-Babai and Piparia as its growth centres. Indore region has a developed area of 5425 hectares and growth centres like Pithampur, Kheda, Megh Nagar, Ujjain, Dewas, Maksi and Jaggakhedi. Gwalior region has 1905 hectares of developed area and its growth centres are Malanpur, Chirongi, Banmore and Chainpura. Rewa region has 257.3 hectares of developed area with Waidhanm Maihar and Nandan Tola as its key growth centres. Jabalpur region with its developed area of 2056.6 hectares has Bargaon, Maneri, Lamtara and Katni as major growth centres. Some of the major industrial units in these five regions are auto, pharmaceuticals, textile, food processing, IT/ ITeS, ESDM, cement and mining.

MP further has an advantage in skilled manpower, provided by some of the premier institutes in the state, including IIM, IIT, AIIMS, NLIU, NID, MANIT. Over 2 lakh technical professionals graduate every year from various institutes in Madhya Pradesh. Global skill parks contribute in a major way towards provide skilled workers to the fifth most populous state of India.

5. Favourable policies for business and quality of life

The new policy initiatives from the government of Madhya Pradesh ensure that the state provides competitive land and power tariffs rates. The government has implemented focused sector-specific policies to meet the requirements of each sector. Initiatives are designed around providing incentives and assistance, such as capital investment support. To attract investment in the state, the government has introduced discounted tariffs, exemption on duties, and customized incentive package for mega projects. The state’s ‘Tax delinked’ investment assistance policy focuses on employment generation, priority block development, and expert training.

In addition to these, the MP government is also consistently working towards lowering pollution levels to ensure better liveability across its cities. The state also strives towards cleanliness; Indore was recently rated as India’s cleanest city, with Ujjain, Dewas, Khargone, Bhopal, and Nagda counted among the top 20 in Swachh Survekshan 2019.