Destination Tripura Investment Summit 2021 Conducts Its First Roadshow in Mumbai

by Suman Gupta

• The Roadshow spotlights trade infrastructure, ease of doing business and potential in horticulture, handloom and tourism sectors for growth

• Highlights business opportunities in sectors like food processing, rubber, tea, bamboo, handloom and tourism

• Showcases various state schemes to attract investments

Mumbai, November , 2021: The Department of Commerce and Industry in association with the Indian Chamber of Commerce today successfully conducted the first “Roadshow on Destination Tripura – Investment Summit 2021”.  The first ever investment summit will be held in Tripura on 9^th & 10^th Dec. The main objective behind conducting this summit is to showcase various business opportunities in the state of Tripura and to attract investment. Other than Mumbai, roadshows will be held in Delhi and other few locations.

Mrs. Swapna Debnath, Additional Director, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Tripura, Mr. Hirandra Debbarma, Deputy Director, Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Tripura, Dr. Naresh Babu. N, IFA, Director IT, Directorate of Information Technology, Government of Tripura, Mr. Bijoy Kumar Upadhyay, Assistant professor – TIT, Directorate of Higher Education, Govt. of Tripura and Dr. P.K Goyal, IAS, Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Tripura addressed the audience during the inaugural session of the roadshow.

The summit will be organized as part of the vision to further strengthen Tripura’s untapped business potential across sectors in terms of natural resources, connectivity & infrastructure, skilled workforce and international trade opportunities etc.

The summit aims to provide a platform for industry participants and discuss growth and development opportunities from key sectors like rubber, food processing, tea, bamboo, handloom, tourism etc. Tripura being endowed with natural resources and slowly becoming the gateway between SE Asia and Bangladesh with highly improved connectivity and infrastructure has tremendous potential for international trade.

One of the major expectations from this investment summit is to build India as global champion in the concerned areas of business. The sessions also covered financing of the burgeoning start-up ecosystem, and how the country has the potential to grow from the current level to global scale in both organized and unorganized sectors.

Additionally, Hon’ble CM of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, shared his thought virtually, on the Tripura Roadshow, said, “The goal of this summit is to promote business in Tripura and raise awareness of the Govt. ’s intervention in the state to boost commerce. The aim is to make the business community aware of what they stand for. The idea is to encourage mutual benefit by investing in Tripura. I am confident that the summit will be a success and will bring investors together coming with multiple opportunities. I welcome everyone here, especially the youth of Tripura that stand to benefit from various investments.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. P.K Goyal, IAS, Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Tripura, said, “Tripura is soon going to be a industrial hub in the North East. Infrastructure has developed to a large extent – railways has grown, an alternate highway to connect Agartala with Assam border is under development, rail link with Kolkata is coming up by next year for faster transport of goods in the region. We expect major trade for other states to happen via Tripura. We are having plans of transhipment of goods to have access to Chittagong border through sea routes as well. Tripura is in a state of transition from being inward looking state to being one of the leading states in the northeast. Initiatives taken by the Govt. will soon reap the benefits.”

Mrs. Swapna Debnath, Additional Director, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Tripura, added, “Tripura has a locational advantage which is still unexplored. The state is progressing in the HIRA Model as outlined by PM Modi. Tea, natural gas, rubber plantation as well as tourism are the key sectors. Trade volume is going to expand to a large extent as there is high potential for latex based industries and rubber-based industries to cater to domestic and Bangladesh market. We have also announced the Mukhyamantri Agarbatti Atmanirbhar Mission – which supports rural artisans andthe bamboo sector. We have supportive, accessible administration, stable government and EODB and efforts for faster take-off of investments, support from Invest India as well.”

Dr. Naresh Babu .N, IFA, Director IT, Directorate of Information Technology, Government of Tripura, said, “Its high time, India should look at exporting larger volume of Agarwood production. After conducting a lot of studies, we got the export quota from the Govt. and we are currently exporting around 2,000 crore product in a year. Hence it is crucial to promote Agarwood based industries for the benefit of the overall economy.”

Mr. Binoy Kurain, Deputy Director Marketing, Rubber Board, mentioned, “To put things into a perspective its important to explain the sectoral importance of natural rubber. Industries like Automobilae, Tyres, Gloves etc. cannot operate without this raw material. Natural rubber is a 150 lakh crore industry in India. India imports rubber as it’s a deficit country. The supply chain has a possibility to grow at a quantum scale.”

Mr. Rajesh Kumar Das, OST, TIDC, Govt of Tripura said, “Tourism sector is untouched inspite of lot of incentives provided by the Govt. Connectivity has improved to a great extent. Spiritual tourism, wellness tourism, tea & golf tourism, eco-tourism, film tourism, art & crafts tourism are the thurst areas. New international airport is going to be inaugurated in the month of Dec. A lot of skill ugradation is also happening in the tourism industry in Tripura. Tripura Govt. has also launched a new concept called ‘adventure tourism’ to attract more promotion. The non polluted atmosphere of our  state  and different initiatives is sure to create a better bi-lateral relations.”

Speaking on this ocassion, Mr. Prasenjit Das, Directorate of Handloom, Handicrafts & Sericulture, Government of Tripura, said, “This is the most growing and profitable segment for the state, which directly impacts most tribes of the state. Tripura is carrying forward the legacy and heritage propagated by generations of weavers.”

Three or four roadshows including the ones in Mumbai and Delhi will promote Tripura as a tech-friendly state, an employment generating location and facilitate SME sector of the state. These roadshows are aimed at creating linkages between the state and the investors. Today’s roadshow witnessed the presence of eminent corporates like Mr. Chihang Kashung from Invest India and Mr.  Anil Mutha, Chairman, Mutha Industries to name a few who showed keen interest for exploring possibilities in Tripura.