Bhutan has rolled out the red carpet for the Indian IT industry to participate in its ambitious information technology development programme.

The Bhutanese Prime Minister, Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay, who visited Hyderabad as part of his maiden visit to India after he took over, said Bhutan was endowed with natural beauty.

Now Bhutan would pursue a programme to build on its natural foundation and tread the path of modernisation, led by IT.

“Show us the path. We will first take baby steps in this direction, followed by giant strides. It will be a profitable proposition for you,” he told a meeting of CII here today.

He welcomed Indian IT companies to set up operations in Bhutan. “I assure you we will give you the very best option and incentives to do business in Bhutan. You can feel the sense of my enthusiasm…I am open for business,” he said, adding that Bhutan would welcome a IT-led business delegation to the country.

Tobgay also identified renewable energy as another area for cooperation between the two countries.

The Prime Minister, who visited the CII Green Building here, was impressed with the work India was doing in the area of green building campaign.

The CII said India, which was engaged in capacity building in energy efficiency sector in Sri Lanka, could undertake a similar exercise in Bhutan, besides assisting it in the green building movement, certification and materials manufacture. The trade body identified waste management as another area that India could work jointly with Bhutan.

>amitmitra@thehindu.co.in