Assam CM Flags Rs 778 Crore Investment, Farm-to-Shelf Growth

From Assam's fields to Lay's packets: Himanta Sarma highlights Rs 778 crore investment

Guwahati, Sep 29

Taking to social media platform X, CM Sarma said the growth of investment in Assam was creating more opportunities for local employment and enabling products originating in the state to reach markets beyond its borders.

"It grows with opportunity ₹778 Cr investment, more local employment opportunities," CM Sarma said in his post. Highlighting the connection between agriculture and industry, the Chief Minister said the journey of a potato grown in Assam's fields to a packet of Lay's available on consumers' shelves represented the kind of economic opportunity the state was seeking to create.

"From a potato growing in our fields to a packet of Lay's on your shelf. That's what opportunity looks like - Made in Assam, reaching beyond Assam," he said.

The post underlined the state government's emphasis on strengthening local production and creating an ecosystem in which agricultural output can feed into large-scale processing and manufacturing.

The Rs 778 crore investment highlighted by CM Sarma is also significant in the context of Assam's efforts to attract private investment and expand employment opportunities outside traditional sectors.

The government has been promoting the state as an emerging investment destination, with a focus on manufacturing, food processing, infrastructure and other industries.

The Chief Minister's remarks also pointed to the potential of linking Assam's farmers with organised food-processing and consumer-product supply chains. Such linkages can create additional avenues for value addition within the state while enabling locally produced agricultural commodities to access wider markets.

The reference to Lay's reflects the broader idea of converting locally grown agricultural produce into branded consumer products, thereby creating economic activity at multiple stages, from farming and procurement to processing, packaging, logistics and retail.

CM Sarma's post comes amid the state government's continued efforts to project Assam as a destination for investment and industrial development. The government has repeatedly stressed the need to generate more local employment while ensuring that the benefits of industrial growth reach communities and producers within the state.

The Chief Minister said the larger objective was to ensure that opportunities created in Assam were not confined to the state but enabled locally produced goods to reach consumers across the country and beyond.

— IANS