Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi at a cultural programme organised in the steel city. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

Jamshedpur, Feb. 1: The “power hub” strategy of Chhattisgarh would make it the most preferred destination for all power-intensive industries, said Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi while attending a function organised here by the Chhattisgarh community.

“We see Chhattisgarh emerging as the power hub of the country. We have the capacity to cover half the demand-supply gap in the entire country and have already tied up with the five states — Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana — for setting up power plants in the state,” said Jogi while addressing reporters at the Circuit House today.

According to Jogi, the large power surplus of the new state is attracting a number of power-intensive industries including the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which is setting up a mega thermal power project there, he said. “Besides power our focus is also on governance and infrastructure. If we can provide these two, the rest will follow,'' Jogi said, adding that Chhattisgarh is the richest state in terms of mineral wealth, with 28 varieties of major minerals including diamonds being found there. The chief minister of Chhattisgarh also said he was happy with the pace of development work in his state.