Bizodisha Bureau, Rourkela (Odisha), April 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said a new era of progress and development had ushered in India and the country was once again back as one of the most favoured investment destinations in the world.

Addressing a public meeting here after dedicating the Rs 12,000-crore expansion and modernisatin work of the Rourkela Steel Plant to the nation, Mr Modi said the pessimism that had set in minds of the investors with the regard to the prospects of the Indian market, had changed into optimism in recent times and big investment proposals have begun to pour in.

“For nearly a decade, there was a sense of pessimism in the minds of investors to invest in India…they were shying away from our country. In the last 10 months, we have brought about a change in the investment climate in the country. Many investors have shown interests to come to India and invest in railways, road and other sectors. The investors realise that India is the only country which can give them the highest returns on their investments,” the Prime Minister said.

Stating that India had made rapid strides in steel production, Mr Modi said it was yet to catch up with China in the sector.

“In steel production, we have left America far behind. But, we are still way behind China in this segment. This is not acceptable to us. We do not want to lag behind China either in this sector or for that matter any other good manufacturing areas,” he said.

The PM said his government always opposed the trading of the country’s mineral resources and wanted their value addition locally so as to get maximum profits.

Stating that his government believed in cooperative federalism, the PM said his government always wanted to carry along the state governments in formulation of policies and execution of various works.

He underlined that the BJP government’s coal block auction move had benefitted mineral-bearing states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh most. “Of the 204 coal blocks identified to be auctioned, we have auctioned just 20 coal blocks and got nearly 2 lakh crore rupees. This money is directly going to the concerned mineral bearing states. When the rest blocks will be auctioned, the fate of these states will undergo complete change,” he said.
On his much publicized “Make in India” campaign, the Prime Minister said it aimed at developing India as a prosperous nation.

Union steel and mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar, petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan, tribal affairs minister Jual Oram, local BJP MLA Dillip Ray were among others present in the meeting.