Amit Shah says India to soon export semiconductors, rolls out Rs 2 lakh crore investment projects in MP

INDORE: Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah on Thursday said India has made a decisive entry into the semiconductor sector and will soon move from self-reliance to becoming an exporter, as he presided over the MP Growth Summit in Gwalior at the Mela Ground and unveiled investment proposals worth Rs 2 lakh crore.Addressing investors and industry leaders, Shah said, “Even though we entered the semiconductor industry late, we have made a significant impact, and soon we will not only become self-reliant in the semiconductor sector but also start exporting.” He also noted that India’s foreign exchange reserves have crossed a record $700 billion.Highlighting the scale of the announcements, Shah said, “Today, an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore is being made, but no one realizes how significant this investment is for this region and its people.

If the state does not have balanced development, it cannot progress because every region has potential.”Referring to the evolution of investment conclaves, he said, “The structured conclave was initiated by Narendra Modi from Gujarat under the name ‘Vibrant Gujarat,’ a scientific beginning by him. Mohan Yadav has started a new initiative for balanced development in the state by promoting regional investment.

The conclave and investment foundation programs initiated by him in Madhya Pradesh will greatly benefit the state's balanced development in the coming days.

”Shah said the Gwalior and Malwa-Chambal regions, long associated with cotton production, lagged earlier due to lack of fair prices, but recent investments are changing that. “MP MITRA Park (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel) is based on the 5F model, which ensures fair prices for farmers' produce.

The largest MP MITRA Park in the country is in MP. This will benefit not only farmers but also industries like textiles and tourism, which provide the most employment, creating a favorable infrastructure in MP,” he said.Calling Madhya Pradesh’s location its biggest strength, Shah said, “MP's biggest advantage is its geographical location. Half of India can be supplied with minimal transportation costs,” adding that industries must be symmetrically developed across regions connected to the south, Delhi and western MP, including Dhar and Jhabua.He said the regional investment summit has laid the foundation for comprehensive development, noting a 17% rise in irrigation coverage and that MP has surpassed Punjab and Haryana to win the Krishi Karman award seven times consecutively. On infrastructure, Shah cited surplus electricity, improved cleanliness rankings, lowest metro operation costs and the growing pull of multi-modal logistics parks.On entrepreneurship, he said MP has emerged as a startup leader with industries across agriculture, food processing, minerals, renewables, textiles, pharma and tourism. He said, nearly 50 per cent of startups are run by women and the state registered 4.57 lakh new MSME units in a year.“MP is on its way to becoming a hub for the entire country. Startups and innovation have taken it to new heights,” he said.Highlighting India’s digital leap, Shah said, “During the Digital India era, we achieved the most development in the shortest time,” adding that India now leads the world in real-time digital transactions and vaccine manufacturing. Urging youth and investors, he said MP’s potential is such that you can sow rupees and earn crores, stressing that regionally balanced growth creates sustainable and successful industries.Comparing to the UPA, the Union home minister said India has seen a sharp expansion in infrastructure over the past decade. He said, “During the UPA era, the country had about 90,000 km of state highways, while 1,50,000 km of new highways have been added since.

Four-lane highways expanded from 18,000 km to 46,000 km, and rural roads from 3,81,000 km to 7,84,000 km.”He said the number of airports rose from 74 to 163, while metro connectivity increased from five cities to 23. Optical fibre, earlier limited to around 100 panchayats, now reaches 2,14,000 panchayats. Shah added that there were no Vande Bharat trains earlier, while 164 are now being manufactured, with parts also made in Madhya Pradesh.On healthcare manufacturing, Shah said India built strong vaccine and R&D capacity during Covid and today 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines are manufactured in India.