State gets poor response to FDI

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 19

The efforts of successive governments to project Uttarakhand as a favourable destination for 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the state has yielded only one investment proposal from a Chinese textiles company.

During the tenure of the previous Congress government several business representatives and ambassadors of various countries had visited the state. There were talks of Boeing investing in the state, followed by countries such as Thailand and Singapore.

They came, saw and never returned. After showing an initial interest, their proposals never materialised.

In 2015, officials of the state had held talks with Airbus, which was interested in setting up a manufacturing facility at Sitarganj and wanted 100 acres of land to set up the facility. Similarly, after beverage giant Coca Cola encountered hurdles in setting up a bottling plant in Vikas Nagar, the government had tried to compensate it by offering a proposal at Sitarganj, but it too never came back.

“As of now, Boeing and Coca Cola have dropped their plans to invest anywhere in India. The entire process of attracting the FDI takes a year to fructify. There is gestation period for several months,” said Additional Secretary (Industries) R Rajesh Kumar.

The only investment (Rs 600 crore) that has been made is by a Chinese textile company, YOYOGO, at Sitarganj.

“Next month, we will go to China again to hold talks regarding a Rs 1000-crore investment proposal from a private company, followed by a trip to South Korea. We are still pursuing investment proposals with Thailand,” said Kumar.

Thailand that had shown interest in investing in pharmaceutical industry last year had not officially come up with the proposals.

“We need to properly follow up these proposals, otherwise these will not materialise. We have to compete with other states as well. I think the urban sector is the area that can be explored for FDIs,” said Uttarakhand Government spokesperson and Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik.

The state offers a conducive environment for investors like world-class infrastructure at Sitarganj.