The Sector Will Soon Become Self-Reliant and Start Exporting: Union Minister Shah

 Bhopal: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that India has made a belated but decisive entry into the semiconductor sector and the industry is soon going to become self-reliant and start exporting.

Laying foundation stones for the 1655 projects worth Rs two lakh crore at the ‘MP Growth Summit-2025’, held at the Fair Ground in Gwalior city in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Shah said that “We have made a strong entry into the semiconductor industry, although a bit late. In no time, we will not only become self-reliant in the semiconductor sector, but will also start exporting it”.

“India has already made a significant impact in the semiconductor sector despite belated entry into the area”, he added.

Hailing the concept of regional industrial conclaves initiated by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav, he said that it would ensure a balanced development in the state.

A balanced development will ensure progress of a state since every region has potential, he said.

He gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing investment conclaves in the form of “Vibrant Gujarat” when the latter was chief minister of Gujarat and said that Mr. Yadav has given a new initiative for balanced development in the state by promoting regional investments.

The conclave and investment programmes will yield huge benefits to Madhya Pradesh in the long run, Mr. Shah predicted.

He said that Madhya Pradesh’s biggest strength is its geographical location, which has the potential to make it the hub of many sectors.

“Half of India can be supplied with minimal transportation costs from Madhya Pradesh-based industries. The industries must be symmetrically developed across the region to take advantage of the location of the state”, he added.

Highlighting the potential of the state in the farm sector, Mr. Shah said that soil of Madhya Pradesh is very fertile and a mere 17 percent increase in irrigation coverage has helped the state surpass Punjab and Haryana to win the Krishi Karman award seven times consecutively.

He described how India has rapidly developed its infrastructure after the NDA government-led by Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre in 2014, noting that around 1,50,000 km of new highways have been added in the last 11 years whereas during the UPA era, the country had only 90,000 km of state highways.

The four-lane highways have been expanded from 18,000 km to 46,000 km during the period while rural roads have been expanded from 3,81,000 km to 7,84,000 km.

The number of airports in the country has increased from 74 to 163 during the period, while metro rail service has been expanded from five cities to 23 cities.

Addressing a farmers’ conference in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh later, Mr. Shah laid emphasis on promotion of natural farming in the country in a big way.

Natural farming will not only tackle the health issues involving the fertilizer-based agriculture but also increase the farmers’ income, besides boosting conservation of water and soil.

He said that the government is developing a ‘complete system’- from soil and lab testing, certification to packaging- to ensure that agricultural produce of the country’s farmers reaches the global level in a better way since there is a global market for natural farming.