States Showcase Their Strengths To Woo Investments By Overseas Indians

KOCHI (TIP): Ten states of India showcased the multifarious investment opportunities for the Indian Diaspora with a view to identifying areas for forging partnerships with overseas Indians at the concluding day of the 11th Bharatiya Pravasi Divas here on Wednesday, January 9th. Kerala, the host state for the three-day event, presented to the delegates its developmental agenda and looked for investment, support and the talent of overseas Indians in helping the State to realize its vision. The multi-point program envisioned for Kerala was spelt out by Mr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovation.

The program envisages connectivity through coastal waterways for movement of goods, building knowledge cities in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, integration of all ayurveda activities in the state, egovernance, waste management through green technologies, skill development, promotion of traditional industries and creating high-speed rail corridor. Among those who invited overseas Indians to invest in Kerala included Mr. Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala; Mr. Vayalar Ravi, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs; Mr. K V Thomas, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Mr. K C Joseph, Minister for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department & Culture, Government of Kerala.

The north Indian state of Punjab prides itself in having a strong agriculture base, high consumer index, best infrastructure index, best industrial and agri work culture, high per capita income, highest agriculture output, best human resource and an enterprising populace. According to S. S. Channy, Principal Secretary, Department of Technical Education & Industrial Training & Cultural Affairs and NRI Affairs, the mission was to make Punjab a top-notch state in terms of being surplus in power, best air connectivity, finest road network, futuristic town planning, upgraded transport facilities, maximum emphasis on education, health for all, engaging youth through sports, make Punjab an industry & IT destination, social development, employment generation, heritage preservation and governance reforms.

On the industrial front, the state’s fiveyear mission is to create a textiles hub at Ferozepur, Barnala, Mansa, Bathinda; food hub (Amritsar, Ferozepur); IT hub (Mohali, Amritsar); petro park (Bathinda); automobiles hub (Patiala); sugar hub (Amritsar, Gurdaspur); hosiery, garments, knitting, weaving (Ludhiana); hand tools (Jalandhar); sports goods (Jalandhar) and leather goods (Jalandhar). Mr. Rajendra Pareek, Industries Minister, Government of Rajasthan, spelt out the reasons to invest in the state. These include a conducive business environment, strategic location and market accessibility, large land bank, strong backbone of industrial power, availability of skilled manpower at low cost, booming automotive sector, consistently growing IT/ITes industry, home to leaders in ceramic and glass, ever-expanding horizons in tourism, seamless possibilities in non-conventional power generation, rich mineral and oil wealth, active institutional support, a destination favored by corporate and a great place to live.

“The business friendly initiatives of the Government of Rajasthan, such as Rajasthan Investment promotion Scheme 2010 and Rajasthan Enterprises Single window Enabling and Clearance Act 2011, have attracted leading companies from various sectors. JCB, Honda, Lafarge, Saint Gobain, Infosys, Deutsche Bank, Hero Motorcorp and Petro are some of the prominent companies that have chosen Rajasthan for their operations,” he says. The State of Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development: It boasts of 16% of the country’s industrial output, 22% of India’s exports, 35% of the country’s pharma products, 51% of chemical products and 62% of India’s petrochemical production.

According to Mr. Arvind Agarawal, Principal Secretary, NRI, Government of Gujarat, the percentage of working days lost in Gujarat due to industrial strife is 0.42%, the lowest in India. And even during the worst years of recession, Gujarat registered double-digit industrial growth over the last seven years. Further, Gujarat is the only Indian state with an integrated state-wide gas grid. It has an extensive transmission network of almost 2200 km. Odisha enjoys its own prominence in the form of agriculture, industries, infrastructure developments, corporate hubs, top-tier educational institutes, good career opportunities, ports for exports and imports, investment avenues and natural beauty.

Mr. Surya Narayan Patro, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, Government of Odisha mentioned that the Odisha Government was trying to create a favorable environment for attracting investment by streamlining the process for regulatory clearances through Single Window System approach, for which Clearance Authorities and Level Nodal Agencies at state and districts level were functional. The agencies provide facilitation and infrastructural support services to investors under the aegis of ‘Team Odisha’. The state is rich in minerals, agriculture and other natural resources. Odisha has 33% of iron ore, 55% of Bauxite, 95% of Chrome, in addition to large reserves of Coal, Dolomite, Graphite and Manganese in the country.

Odisha has a large number of large, medium and small-scale enterprises in Steel, Aluminium, Chrome, Power, Textile, Handicrafts and IT/ITES. To accelerate the industrial progress in Bihar, the Government has adopted a number of measures. As many as, 939 proposals have been approved and Rs. 300807.45 crore is to be invested, of which investments worth Rs. 502120 crore has already been made. It is also estimated that 229641 job opportunities would be created. The areas of opportunities for investment were food processing, service sector, textile sector, sugar sector, information technology, leather, biotechnology, drug and pharmaceuticals. has strategic locational advantage in Eastern India and is close to Kolkata, Haldia and Paradeep Ports.

Ranchi, the capital, is well connected by air, rail and road. Industrial towns have excellent Rail and Road connectivity with major market places of the country. Golden Quadrilateral Super Highway passes through Jharkhand. Jharkhand is an ideal location for EOUs interested in emerging markets of South East Asia, because of the freight advantage. According to Mr. D Gupta, Development Commissioner, Government of Jharkhand, the state offers significant opportunities in tourism, building power generation capacity, establishment of quality engineering and Medical Institutes (IITs/Polytechnics/Medical Colleges etc) and setting up of cold chains.

Mr. Ponnala, Lakshmaiah, Minister for IT & Communication, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said, “I am happy to say that the state of Andhra Pradesh continues to be a favorite destination for industrial investment from all over the world. Industrial investment in the state is consistently growing and the investments received during 2010-11 stands at Rs 29,995 crore recording a growth of 67% over 2009- 10. The state is home to 4416 large industries and 180000 MSMEs, giving employment to nearly 25 lakh people. Today, Andhra Pradesh stands at the forefront of key manufacturing sectors, including cement, paper, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, steel, light and heavy engineering products, leather and food processing sectors.”

Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the most ideal destination for ICT sector in India. It has the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies based in AP. It is home for Indian and foreign IT majors such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Mahindra Satyam, Cognizant, Patni, Tech Mahindra, Sonata, Infotech, and Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, DELL, Motorola, Deloitte, Convergys, UBS, Bank of America, HSBC, Honeywell, Siemens, JP Morgan, United Health Group, Facebook and so on. The Maharashtra Government’s policy and reforms driven initiatives are demonstrated by its policies on Biotech, IT & ITES, SEZ, Grapes Processing Industry, Tourism and Greenfield Port.

Some key initiatives of the Government include stateof- the-art infrastructure, development of thrust industries, human resource development, labor laws reforms, cluster development – SME sector, provide information and facilitation, single window clearance portal, capital incentives for SSI and regional development. According to Mr. Vijay Suryawanshi, Joint CEO, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, some of the key policy initiatives of the state government are 5% subsidy on capital equipment for technology upgradation limited to Rs 25 lakh, 50% subsidy on the expenses incurred for quality certification limited to Rs 1 lakh, 25% subsidy on cleaner production measures limited to Rs 5 lakh and 50% subsidy on the expense incurred for patent registration limited to Rs 5 lakh.

Madhya Pradesh has witnessed rapid industrialization. The major clusters in the state where industrial activity has been observed are regions in and around Gwalior, Jabalpur, Bhopal and Indore. The state has been proactive in adopting a seamless approach across sectors to promote sustainable growth resulting in fructification of investments over Rs. 7 lakh crore in the state. As many as 562 projects worth INR 3,57,558 crore in manufacturing, mining, power, services and infrastructure sector are being set up of which 206 projects costing Rs. 1,55,149 crore are in advance stages of completion and projects worth Rs. 39,000 crore are in various stages of execution.

According to Arun Kumar Bhatt, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd., the Government of Madhya Pradesh decided to create a ‘Land Bank’, parcels of government land at various places suitable for industrial use. Such land parcels have been identified and are in the process of being transferred to Industries Department. Regional AKVNs have been entrusted with the responsibility of creating basic enabling infrastructure in such industrial estates or regions. The State Government has created a land bank of about 20,000 hectares across the state, which is being offered to various investors. Further consolidation of government land holdings with various departments that are suitable for industrial use is being carried out to identify more land and provide industries an impetus to set up base in the state.