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Thirty –six Indian businesses are meeting with government officials and the private sector with the intention of setting up in the country before the end of this year.

At a meeting with the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekwow Spio Garbrah, the group expressed its readiness to do businesses in Ghana and hoped the business climate is friendly.

The investors are set to go into energy and water, mining, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing sectors.

A committee member of the Indo-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Parag Shukal told the Business Finder more than enough preparations had gone and his company is set to take off in Ghana in July this year.

“We had very fruitful meetings with the visiting vice president of Ghana in New Delhi and he actually invited us to come over to Ghana to and carry out our planned investments,” he said.

The company is set to meet industry leaders, the banks to understand the financial models and how the models can be sustained.

Mr Shukal noted that “what we want to do here is to see to it that the entire Ghana and the deprived rural folk has access to energy and water.”

Energy is a key driver of economic prosperity as championed by Ghana’s first president Dr, Kwame Nkrumah, he observed.

According to him, India went through the same stages providing its rural populace with energy and clean water , adding that “industrial growth is one aspect it so also we have commercial and financial growth but all growth needs to be equitable and inclusive.”

The whole focus is that all growth should trickle down to the last mile connectivity, ensuring that the poorest of poor have the basic amenities and services of health care.

The company is focused more on energy and water provision and recognizes the fact that clean drinking water is the key to healthy growth.

In the area of power, the company is set to invest heavily in generating power from solar in Ghana.

“Ours is about decentralized power, doing micro grades, putting up small power plants and so your electricity challenges are going to be mitigated because the power will be from the sun.

It becomes much easier for the poorest of the poor to maintain those plants because power is from the sun.

The company says it is poised to employ local human and natural resources as well as other resources from India in setting up presence in Ghana.

“We are looking at Ghanaian resources, employment generation, skills development, we are looking at training local Ghanaians because those are the business models which have proved more sustainable the past years,” he explained.

“The whole objective is to train them, empower them and build their capacity adequately to ensure lasting businesses,” he added.

Dr Spio-Garbrah encouraged the investors not limit their scope as they explored businesses opportunities in the country, adding that “almost every area of business that you have so far identified and in which you are specialists is in demand in Ghana.”

The Minister described Ghana as a very desirable country to invest as a result of the stable political climate and appealed to the investors to go into partnerships with Ghanaian businesses.

“We have many Ghanaian industrialists who can partner you in whatever businesses you want to establish in Ghana,” he appealed to the Indian investors.