The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Raman Singh, was bestowed with the "Outstanding Person" award by the Overseas Friends of BJP during his visit to the US this week.
Singh was presented the "Outstanding Person" award for his dynamic contribution in all round development of Chhattisgarh after he became the State Chief Minister in December 2004, said Chandrakant Patel, vice-president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, US.
Patel, who is also president of the Chhattisgarh NRI (non-resident Indian) Association in the US, said the award was conferred to Singh at an impressive public reception hosted at the Indian Cultural Centre, Tampa, Florida on May 22.
The public reception was organized jointly by the Overseas Friends of the BJP USA, the Federation of Indian Association, Florida and the Chhattisgarh NRI Association.
"More than 300 people from various walks of life were attended the public reception," he said.
Singh visited Florida for two days - May 21 and May 22 -- after his successful business trips to New York, Washington DC and Toronto. In his speech after receiving the award, Patel said Singh urged the NRIs present at the meeting to come forward and invest massively in the State.
Stating he had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Texas Power Generation Company for setting up of a 1,000 MW coal-based plant in Chhattisgarh at an estimated cost of $1.28 billion, Singh claimed that the State at present provided the most investor-friendly environment in India.
{{/usCountry}}Stating he had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Texas Power Generation Company for setting up of a 1,000 MW coal-based plant in Chhattisgarh at an estimated cost of $1.28 billion, Singh claimed that the State at present provided the most investor-friendly environment in India.
{{/usCountry}}Being a new State, Chhattisgarh has tremendous potential for business and investment. The State is rich in natural resources, he asserted, the public reception.
The meeting was also addressed by the Consulate General of Houston, SR Tayal, and the Provost of the University of Florida, Renu Khator, besides Patel.
Among other eminent NRIs present on the occasion were Satya Shaw, president Asian American Convenience Store Association; Kanti Bakarania, president Gujarati Samaj, Tampa Bay; Ram Charan, president, Indo-US Chamber of Commerce, Tampa; Bhramarattan Agarwal, chairman, Indo-US Chamber of Commerce Orlando; Himmat Parekh, Dinesh Gandhi, Bharat Patel, Rashmi Jakhotia, Darshan Singh and Abhinav Dwivedi.
On May 21, Patel said, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce held a reception that was attended by more than 100 eminent NRI businessmen and community leaders in the area.
Taking advantage of the occasion, the chief executive officer of the Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society, Aman Singh, made a power point presentation giving details of the investor-friendly climate in the State.
Leading a high-level delegation from Chhattisgarh, Singh had arrived in the US on May 17. He left for New Delhi from Washington via Amsterdam on May 24.
During his stay in the US and Canada, the delegation made eight presentations before a number of businessmen, investors and NRIs. Before leaving for India, Singh had termed his visit a big boost for States development and investment.