GUWAHATI, Feb 25: The Advantage Assam 2.0 Infrastructure and Investment Summit got off to a spectacular opening in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while other attendees included Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, Chairman of Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran, Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal, Essar Group Director Prashant Ruia, several other top industry captains from the country and abroad besides business delegations from several nations, ambassadors and Heads of Missions of 61 countries, among others.
Speaking in the inaugural session, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed all top industrialists from the country and abroad as well as the foreign delegations and asked them to explore the investment potential of Assam and the Northeast for which he said was the gateway to South East Asia.
Crediting the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the transformation of Assam from being a militancy-affected State to becoming one of the most peaceful states of the country, Chief Minister Dr Sarma thanked Prime Minister Modi for the new fertilizer plant, a greenfield project with a capacity of 12 lakh metric tonnes.
“I welcome all industries to join us in the journey of a Viksit Assam and contribute towards the goal of a Viksit Bharat,” Chief Minister Dr Sarma said.
Prime Minister Modi, in his address, spoke about the transformation of Assam after the BJP came to power in the centre and in the State.
“”In the last few years, the BJP government has done a lot of work on the infrastructure related to air connectivity. Before 2014, there were only 3 bridges on the Brahmaputra river, but in the last 10 years, we have built 4 new bridges, one of which we have named after Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika. Assam received an average of Rs 2100 crore in the railway budget between 2009 and 2014. Our government increased Assam’s railway budget by more than four times to Rs 10,000 crore,” Prime Minister Modi said.
