States vital for $5-tn goal: PM

Vijay C Roy & Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, November 7

Inaugurating the maiden Rising Himachal Global Investors Meet 2019 at Dharamsala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said every state and district in the country had a role in India’s efforts to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

“Every state and every district of the country has a great potential and these will play a vital role in achieving the target,” he said at the event held to attract investment to Himachal Pradesh.

Unlike in the past, the states are now competing with each other to attract investment, he said.

“Himachal has a huge potential for investment in the fields of tourism, pharma and other sectors,” Modi said in his 30-minute speech.

India is now among the top 10 performers in the ease of doing business and has improved its rank by 79 points between 2014 and 2019, he added.

The Prime Minister said that rather than focus on discounts and incentives to attract investment in the state, stress must be laid on debottlenecking and doing away with “inspector raj” and permits at every stage.

“Earlier states were offering discounts to attract investment but that has not given the desired results. Investors keep waiting to see which state is offering more concessions and keep postponing the investment plans to get the best deals,” he said. 

The PM said in the last few years the states had realised that the trend of offering concessions to industrialists was of no benefit. Modi said it was essential to have a conducive and enabling ecosystem for investors to invest in the states. He said the states were now providing an enabling ecosystem to investors by introducing sector-specific policies. Initiatives such as single-window clearance system, sector-specific policies and transparency would go a long way towards attracting investment.

Modi talks investment

• The Centre’s decision to invest over Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure development across the country to benefit HP too
• In past few years, states realised the trend of offering concessions to industrialists is of no benefit. Rather, it is essential to have a conducive and enabling “ecosystem” for investors
• Initiatives such as single-window clearance system, sector-specific policies and transparency go a long way in attracting investment

The big deals 

• Bharti Enterprises to invest Rs 1,000 crore in next three years
• Adani Group to invest in apple stores and CNG stations
• Amazon signs agreements with the state’s handicraft and industry departments