New Delhi: The successful execution of the two-day Global Investors Summit (GIS) in Bhopal has solidified Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s position as the numero uno leader in Madhya Pradesh — among his peers, more experienced party leaders, political observers, and industry leaders.
According to official numbers provided by the government, the event has led to potential investments totalling Rs 30.77 lakh crore and the creation of 17.34 lakh employment opportunities.
Speaking to a group of journalists on the first day of the event in Bhopal, Yadav responded to a query from The Sunday Guardian, expressing his happiness with the results. He added that he was particularly pleased that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his thirty-minute speech, had praised him and his team at least three times.
In BJP circles, a direct reference to a leader by the PM during a speech is used as a barometer to gauge the PM’s appreciation of the leader. Yadav, chosen by the Prime Minister as the Chief Minister despite stronger contenders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan waiting in line, had been seeking a defining moment in his one-and-a-half-year tenure—one that would help him step out from the long shadow cast by his distinguished predecessor, Chouhan.
Despite some glitches—including questions over the venue selection, which failed to accommodate the massive influx of attendees, forcing delegates to walk due to traffic snarls, and a lack of coordination among officials responsible for panel discussions—the GIS proceeded smoothly. Issues arose when an entire team of foreign delegates, including a consulate general, arrived on stage to find no state representatives present, prompting sarcastic remarks from diplomatic staff. Additionally, viral videos showed delegates jostling for dining plates, a situation attributed to overcrowding due to more invitations being extended than the available arrangements. These shortcomings underscored not just logistical lapses but also the state bureaucrats’ failure to anticipate and pre-empt such challenges, raising concerns about planning foresight.
Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, a 1989-batch bureaucrat, arrived in Bhopal last October after completing his central deputation in Delhi, where he had made a positive impact. In less than 45 days, he fine-tuned the backbone of this massive event, including the preparation of 18 new policies that were later inaugurated by the Prime Minister.
In an interaction with journalists in Bhopal, Jain explained that the main question he and his team focused on was how to make it easier for people to do business in the state. Jain spoke with all stakeholders, identified problems and challenges they faced, and tweaked as many of them as possible. To start a hotel in MP, thirty different permissions were previously required. Jain and his team reduced this to ten, and more adjustments will be made under what can be described as an ‘ease of permission’ approach.
An important part of the state’s ease of doing business ecosystem is time-bound action from the government. It is also noteworthy that Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to provide a legal guarantee for delivering notified services to citizens. The Guarantee for Delivery of Public Services Act has been effective in the state since September 25, 2010.
The state is pushing for an ecosystem with a permission system that covers multiple investors, meaning investors don’t have to seek the same permission individually. One critical point the government emphasised to investors is that it is working to create a common infrastructure platform at business sites so that a single asset can serve multiple investors.
According to Jain, Madhya Pradesh has been the fastest-growing state since 2011, growing at a rate of 13% at current prices. The gradual impact of the investor summit is expected to further accelerate this growth rate.
The summit was first held in 2007, followed by events in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2023. This was the first time it was held in Bhopal, with all previous venues being in Indore, known as the business capital of the state.
Officials who spoke to The Sunday Guardian said that the actual fructification of these MoUs and investments is generally in the range of 10-15%, an assessment also agreed upon by political leaders from various spectrums. In the 2023 Global Investors Summit, then-CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced that the state received Rs 15.40 lakh crore worth of expressions of interest, with a promise of 29 lakh jobs.
Last month, opposition Congress, led by state party president Jitu Patwari, released a paper claiming the actual realisation from these summits.
“From 2003 to 2016, investment proposals of more than Rs 17.50 lakh crore were claimed in the first five investors’ summits. After this, in the GIS 2023 in Indore, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government claimed an investment of about Rs 15.40 lakh crore in the state. That is, an investment of about Rs 32 lakh crore was claimed to have come to Madhya Pradesh. However, the reality is that from 2003 to 2023, only Rs 3.47 lakh crore came, which is only 10% of the total investment proposals received by the government,” Patwari claimed, bypassing the actual gains from the 2019 summit when Congress, under CM Kamal Nath, was in power.
While the actual realisation of these MoUs may be limited to 10-15%, the political goodwill generated for Yadav, the encouragement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, and the boost to his credibility as a leader have significantly strengthened his position. This, in turn, is likely to enhance his authority over the bureaucracy in Bhopal, which is known for its tendency to direct chief ministers rather than be directed by them. The decision to shift the venue from Indore to Bhopal marked a step toward Yadav establishing his own identity.