<h4>Xelerate North: Accelerating the growth momentum for holistic development</h4>
   <p>The Northern region of India forms a large part of the country, both in terms of area as well as its population. In recent years, most states in northern India have outperformed India&rsquo;s national average in terms of GDP. ASSOCHAM has been working to drive economic growth in the region through various state chapters under the aegis of the Northern Region Development Council. Our focus areas include Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.</p>
   <p>Given the abundance of natural resources in these states, they offer a wide range of trade and industrial opportunities. Additionally, a skilled workforce and a large consumer market make these attractive investment destinations across sectors. The key sectors driving growth in the region include agriculture and food processing, textiles, ESDM, auto and auto components, electric mobility, infrastructure development, renewable energy, tourism, real estate, logistics, equipment machinery, IT &amp; ITeS, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and education.</p>
   <p>The Northern region is currently focused on infrastructure development to support a balanced model of socio-economic growth, wherein states and UTs build manufacturing and services ecosystems to transition from a largely agrarian economy. Such shift in focus has helped the region witness significant economic growth and foreign investment inflow over the past few decades. As the country works towards becoming Atmanirbhar, the Northern region is also focused on creating an enabling business environment that makes Indian businesses globally competitive.</p>
   <p>Going forward, the region&rsquo;s growth and investments would be facilitated by continuous support from the Government, reduction in compliance burden, implementation of more business-friendly policies, and improvement in ease of doing business.</p>
   <p>ASSOCHAM is organizing its flagship event, Xelerate North 2021, a virtual summit to showcase business and investment opportunities in the region. The event will bring together leaders from the Government and private sector to:</p>
   <p>&bull; Create a roadmap for accelerating the growth momentum</p>
   <p>&bull;Promote Northern states as preferred investment destinations</p>
   <p>&bull; Discuss state/UT level opportunities across sectors</p>
   <p>&bull; Identify interventions that can enable enhanced investments across focus sectors</p>
   <p>&bull; Bring together policymakers to deliberate opportunities for holistic development</p>
   <p>&bull; Encourage ideation of technology adoption to facilitate innovation</p>
   <p>A wide variety of the projects undertaken by the various state governments, such as station redevelopments, roads and highways, or private industrial parks in several districts, are being implemented under the public-private participation (PPP) model. Further, state governments have invited private participation to develop major infrastructure projects such as roads and highways, power, agriculture, sports, etc. This presents a lucrative opportunity for the private sector firms to benefit from the boom in infrastructure development in many north Indian states.</p>
   <p>The Summit would include state-specific sessions, wherein the panellists from Public and Private sectors showcase the opportunity of growth across industries and deliberate interventions which will go a long way in attracting more investments. Additionally, it would showcase an immersive session with policymakers in the State to discuss the roadmap for the future. This session would lay the foundation for public and private sectors working collaboratively to achieve economic growth and enhance the global competitiveness of the regional industry. Xelerate North 2021 would also include an exclusive Membership Meet with the Chamber&rsquo;s Presidium.</p>