Guwahati, Sep 10 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Thursday said the state government is planning to create land banks and develop industrial estates at strategic locations to address the shortage of suitable land, which he identified as one of the major hurdles delaying new investments.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating PepsiCo India’s food manufacturing facility at Banekuchi in Nalbari, Sarma said several companies interested in establishing units in Assam were unable to proceed because appropriate land was not readily available.
The Chief Minister said the proposed land banks would particularly focus on locations with access to major transport infrastructure, including railway stations and highways.
Such land parcels could subsequently be developed as industrial estates with road connectivity and other necessary infrastructure, making it easier for investors to establish manufacturing units, he said.
Sarma said Assam was witnessing growing interest from investors across multiple sectors, but the availability of suitable industrial land remained a practical challenge that needed to be addressed urgently.
He said the government’s efforts to develop industrial infrastructure were part of a larger strategy to strengthen Assam’s manufacturing base and generate employment within the state.
The Chief Minister pointed to PepsiCo’s new facility in Nalbari as an example of the scale of industrial investment that Assam could attract with improved infrastructure and an investor-friendly environment.
Sarma said investments worth around Rs 3 lakh crore had been brought into Assam across sectors including hydrocarbons and petrochemicals, energy, mining and electronics.
These projects, he said, have the potential to generate employment for around one lakh people.
He stressed that creating jobs within Assam was essential to reduce the dependence of the state’s workforce on employment opportunities outside the state.
Referring to the Shraddhanjali scheme, Sarma said the state had in some months received the bodies of as many as 50 workers who died while working in other states, including Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Kerala.
He said expanding the industrial base would help create local employment and reduce the need for people to migrate in search of work.
The proposed land banks and industrial estates are expected to provide investors with ready and strategically located industrial spaces while improving connectivity and supporting Assam’s emergence as an industrial hub in the Northeast.
–IANS
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