Mumbai, Jan 6 (PTI) Industrialists have to look beyond "cheap labour", and perform a "national duty" by not giving any jobs to illegal Bangladeshi migrants, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here after meeting representatives of India Inc, including from the Tatas, Adani Group and Mahindra, Sarma regretted that Indian businessmen are hiring middlemen to get cheap labour from Bangladesh, where textile units are shutting down.

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"Who gets the cheap labour into India? It is our own industry", he said adding, it is a national duty not to encourage the hiring of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

"If Bangaldeshis get employment, people will keep coming. Our industry, our trade, and business have to resolve not to give any jobs to Bangladeshis where will they come? If we have to strike, we have to strike at the roots," the Chief Minister said.

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He said simple enquiries would reveal that the Bangladeshi workers are coming to India after closer of textile units in the neighbouring country.

When asked if the issue featured during his discussions with industry captains over the weekend, Sarma said there is no need to "re-emphasise" an issue on which Assam has been fighting since 1979.

The northeastern state is looking at investment commitments of Rs 1 lakh crore from the central government and entities allied with it over a five-year horizon at the upcoming "Advantage Assam 2.0" investment summit to be held in Guwahati next month, he said.

This will be in addition to the over Rs 1 lakh crore of projects in the roads and railways sectors underway in the state, he added.

Attracting investments in sectors such as tourism, semiconductors and defence is the other focus area of the summit to be held on February 25-26, he said.

He said the Tata group's mega Rs 27,000-crore investment for a semiconductor assembly plant is on schedule, and the first phase will be inaugurated in either November or December this year.

Apart from that, the Tatas have also evinced interest in setting up a 500 MW solar capacity in the state, he said, adding that an industrial policy is in the works where fallow land being held by tea estates can be converted into solar power parks.

The conglomerate has shown interest in opening a hotel in Haflong, which is also a hill station.

The Chief Minister thanked the Tata group for demolishing the myth that big-ticket investments cannot happen in the northeast.

Given the state's proximity to the northeastern theatre which sees maximum deployment of Army, the state is also looking to attract investments into defence production and repair, Sarma said.

This aspect has featured during his interactions with the Adani group and Mahindras, he added.

Asserting that Assam has come out of its militancy-impacted past, Sarma said the challenge before him is to change everybody's perceptions about the state and attract investments.

Sarma said the government is willing to positively look at a suggestion to put in place a risk mitigation fund to encourage lending by banks.

To a question on problems being faced by the microfinance industry, Sarma said the problem lies with the microlenders themselves as they have not been able to locate borrowers.

"Once they locate the borrowers, the government will release the promised sum," he added.

On China's plans to build a huge dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet and its impact on businesses in the state, the Chief Minister said very little is known about China's plans for the USD 137 billion investment. However, he added the project will lead to a 60 per cent dip in the Brahmaputra's waters and will have wide-ranging ramifications.

He said the state is looking to obtain hydropower from Bhutan and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh to meet the power demand.

He further said in the next 10 years, the state would reduce reliance on unclean power sources like coal.

Declining to give any expectations on private sector investment commitments to accrue at the upcoming event, Assam is willing to look at every investment proposal in a serious way and offered to relook into laws and also improve incentives to attract investments.

Assam will also act as the industry partner's "Ambassador" in New Delhi, and help get all the clearances from the Union Government, Sarma said, adding that it did the same with the Tata Group.

On the social sector, he said Assam has done some pioneering work, claiming that it was the first to introduce the system of cash transfers to women which was adopted by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

To a question on Congress' promise of cash transfers made in the run-up to the Delhi elections, Sarma made light of the offer and wondered who would give a guarantee on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's behalf.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)