Rajasthan Government held a meeting under the chairmanship of Honorable CM, Shri Ashok Gehlot, with Saint Gobain officials.Saint Gobain presented their proposed investment plan to the CM and requested for incentives and assurance for support under the state policy framework. Saint Gobain has made Rajasthan its home ground to manufacture for the Asian demand of float glass. Since 2010 its investment announcement, Saint Gobain has already invested over Rs. 1200 Cr and given direct employment to 1100 and now under the phased expansion, the company is proposing for another Rs 1100 cr investments and 300+ direct employment opportunities in the state. With this expansion, Rajasthan will have the Asia?s largest float glass line.
Shri Ashok Gehlot, Honorable CM, Government of Rajasthan said, ?Saint Gobain is renowned industry of the world. When it is choosing the state for its second major investment, it shows its trust in the state. There cannot be a better promotion of the state investment scenario than this.? He further assured to the Saint Gobain that the state government will provide the best cooperative environment and support for proposed and future investments.
Mr B Santhanam, Chairman, Saint-Gobain Group in India,said, ?In line with our strategy for accelerated growth in India, Saint-Gobain will invest in a new Float Glass Plant in our World Glass Complex, Bhiwadi. Rajasthan is the ideal state for this investment as it has abundant availability of Raw materials, excellent talent pool and most importantly a progressive and dynamic Government. This new investment of over Rs1000Cr would help us to produce advanced and value added products for the growing construction and automotive markets in India.?
For the last two years, Rajasthan has been successfully attracting investments due to its very attractive industry policy framework, despite having a focused fight against COVID 19. The state has successfully attracted investment proposals over Rs. 1,50,000 Cr under various thrust sectors such as Green Energy, IT, Startups, Electronics, Glass Mfg, Fabric & Textile, Bathware, Earth Moving, Medical & Health, Ceramic, Mines & Minerals, etc.
Notably, Rajasthan is the sole producer of Zinc and Lead in India, the largest producer of Marble, Limestone, and Sandstone, largest reserve for granite, potash, and Felspar, 2nd largest mineral- producing state in value. The state has a supply of Natural Gas in 18 Districts which is benefiting ceramics, Glass, and other gas-based industries.
To boost the investment in the region, the State Government had announced various policies such as Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme (RIPS)-2019, Rajasthan Industrial Development Policy- 2019, Rajasthan Agro Processing-Agri Business and Agri Export Promotion Policy-2019, Rajasthan wind, Hybrid Policy -2019 and Rajasthan Solar Energy Policy-2019. RIPS-2019 provides benefits to eligible manufacturing and service enterprises in the form of Investment Subsidy, Employment Generation Subsidy, and exemption from payment of Land Tax, Electricity Duty, Mandi Fee, Stamp Duty, and Conversion Charges.
The meeting of Hon?ble Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot with Sh. Santhanam B ?, Chairman Saint Gobain India Group & CEO ? India was also attended by Shri Parsadi Lal Meena, Hon?ble Minister, Industries & NRIs; Shri Arjun Singh Bamaniya, Hon'ble Minister of State for Industry & BPE; Shri Niranjan Arya, Chief Secretary, Rajasthan; Shri Akhil Arora, Principal Secretary, Finance; Shri KuldeepRanka, Principal Secretary to Hon'ble CM & Chairman, RIICO; Shri Ashutosh A.T. Pednekar, Secretary, Industries & NRIs; Shri Amit Dhaka, Special Secretary, CMO; Smt. Archana Singh, Commissioner, BIP & Industries among others.