States to encourage NRI investments

    Hyderabad: In bid to woo NRI investments in their States, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir showcased the potential of their respective states to the delegates for their investments at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas-2006 here today. Opening the first plenary session on the second day of the three- day long 4th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission said that in the last 10 to 15 years, the contribution of non-resident Indians (NRIs) to the nation's development had been rapidly increasing. He called upon the State governments to introduce reforms in various sectors in order to attract investments. Making a power-point presentation, Amit Mitra, Secretary-General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said that India figures high on the investor confidence grades globally and was becoming attractive destination for the foreign direct investments. "Around 70 per cent foreign companies in the country are making profits from their Indian operations and about 84 per cent foreign companies are planning further expansion of their activities", Mitra said. Asserting that that the demographic dividend was the core competency of India, Mitra urged the State governments to take up further reforms in the infrastructure and labour laws as they hold the key to a higher and sustainable growth.

   Speaking on the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy said that recognizing the importance of infrastructure for tapping the outsourcing business both in manufacturing and IT sector, the State was developing the Coastal Corridor between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada by promoting Special Economic Zones. "The State has been very proactive and outgoing in the promotion of IT industry. The software exports from the State have registered a growth of 64 per cent in the year 2004-05 as against the national growth rate of 34 per cent. The State Government is also developing infrastructure for promotion of IT industry in tier-two locations like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Warangal," he said. Describing Andhra Pradesh as an investor-friendly state, Reddy said that the government was providing clearances at single point through Industrial Single-Window Clearance Act. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, said that the State was getting the highest inflows of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), adding that as many as 11 Special Economic Zones have been approved in Gujarat. Modi went on to say that the Government had introduced the Infrastructure Development Act to provide an option of international competitive bidding and provide a level-playing field. Stating that Gujarat wais celebrating 2006 as Tourism Year, Modi appealed to each NRI to send at least five foreigners to visit Gujarat during the year.

    Briefing about the development in his State, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the State was the first one in the country to set up a separate Ministry for the welfare of the non-resident Keralites. Emphasising the need to provide reliable and affordable travel facilities to our people living abroad, he said that the State Government had decided to have its own Airlines. He also expressed happiness over the positive response from the Centre over his plea to provide voting rights to the NRIs of Gulf countries. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that his government was planning a slew of measures to invite investments from NRIs. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, called for a coordinated approach by various state governments to attract foreign investments for the country. While Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad said that there were great opportunities for setting up more agro and horticulture based industries in the State as the it possessed an abundance of natural resources. He further said that the State government was committed to improve the work culture and streamline the procedures with a view to making the State an investor-friendly. Besides the Chief Ministers of the six States, representatives of Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu also addressed the gathering and highlighted the relative advantages of investing in their respective States.

Nitish, Modi woo NRIs to invest in Bihar, Gujarat

   Hyderabad: Chief Ministers of Bihar and Gujarat on the second day at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas on Sunday here, made powerful presentations to woo expatriate Indians to invest in their respective states. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar personally invited Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in Bihar. "We are just trying to participate to the fullest in this meet. This is a forum made available by the Centre to reach out to all the expatriate Indian investors and present a case where in we provide can details of the lucrative opportunities of investment in our state. We are grateful that in the inauguration speech, the Prime Minister himself said that he would like to see investments from expatriate Indians into Bihar," Kumar said after the presentation. A high-level delegation from the Bihar state government attended the celebrations and made a strong case of the wealth of manpower and investment opportunities the state to convince investors to pump in foreign investment.

   At the same forum, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi made a strong case of how Gujarat had been an investors' heaven in the past and continued to do so, attracting the maximum foreign fund flow. "I reassure you brothers, it is my dream. We are way past trying to have Gujarat compete with other states of India. We are now in direct race with countries like China, Japan and Germany. If we wish to attract more investments into our state from abroad, our working conditions should be clearly conducive of that. All our matters should be policy driven," said Modi. India will aim for an economic growth rate of about 10 percent in its eleventh five-year plan to ensure the benefits reach rural areas, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission at the meet. India's economy grew by 6.9 percent in the year to March 2005 and seven to 7.5 percent is forecast for the current fiscal year. But faster growth is needed for the benefit to reach rural areas, where more than two-thirds of the billion-plus population lives. The two main concerns for the eleventh five-year plan starting fiscal 2007-08 would be infrastructure and achieving four percent growth in the agricultural sector, Ahluwalia added. The Commission also plans to raise about 100 billion Indian rupees in bonds, which would be used to provide long-term funding for private industry to help build roads, ports and airports.

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