Skip to main content

Study by top consultants KPMG finds Gujarat's investment climate dipping, talent pool below major states

A top report prepared by well-known consultants, KPMG, employed in the past by the Gujarat government for advising on how to improve the state’s investment climate, has revealed that the state’s investment potential has been dipping over the last five years. In its just-released report, titled “District wise skill gap study for the State of Gujarat (2012-17, 2017-22)”, KPMG, which prides itself for having a network of global professionals offering best of advise on improving investment climate to governments and private parties, has shown, through a chart, that in Gujarat a total of Rs 103,871 crore of investment was made in 2012, which was the lowest since 2008.
Thus, in 2008, investment worth Rs 121,852 crore was made, which jumped to a whopping Rs 147,971 crore in 2009. However, thereafter, the investment began slipping – in 2010 it was Rs 141,021 crore, in 2011 it further slipped to 140,474 crore, and, finally, in 2012 it was Rs 103,871 crore. The report has been prepared for the National Skill Development Corporation, on request from the Gujarat government, in order to "assess" the gap Gujarat would face over the next several years in the demand and supply of manpower in view of the “huge” investment the state’s different sectors have been able to attract in the recent past.
While pointing out that "huge" investment across the state would mean the need for talented manpower, the report regrets, Gujarat has only a “marginally better penetration of higher education compared to the national average.” Thus, while Gujarat’s enrolment in higher education is 14.8 per 1000 population, as against the all-India average of 14 per 1000 population. It comments, “Other progressive knowledge economies like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have higher penetration than Gujarat” – Andhra Pradesh 21.8 per cent, Tamil Nadu 20.8 per cent, Maharashtra 17.4 per cent, and Karnataka 16.4 per cent.
Higher education penetration per 1000 population
Not only has investment dipped, the report has found that number of large-scale units proposing to invest, too, has dipped. Thus, the number of big units proposing to invest in Gujarat was the highest in 2005, with 860, but these reached 383 in 2008. In 2009, as many as 382 big units proposed to invest in Gujarat. In 2010, these went up to 496. In 2011, these further increased to 541. However, in 2012, the numbers went down to the lowest ever since 2002 – 372. The top consultants give no explanation on say why this has happened, only saying, “Over the last five years, the state has witnessed over Rs 1 lakh crore of investments proposed per year.”
At the same time, KPMG also found a wide regional variation in investment, suggesting, efforts by the Gujarat government to uplift backward regions has not succeeded. It has said, “Analysis of regional distribution of investments in Gujarat indicates that the industrial development is concentrated around few districts of Kutch, Bharuch, Surat, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Banaskantha, Rajkot, Jamnagar while other regions including the Dangs, Narmada, Dahod, Navsari remain backward in terms of industrial development.” In 2002-12, Kutch attracted an investment of Rs 5.24 lakh crore, while Ahmedabad received an investment of just Rs 15,801 crore.

Comments

TRENDING

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor. 

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Environmental concern? Global NGO leads campaign urging banks to cut ties with Odisha steel project

A decade after the withdrawal of the South Korean multinational POSCO from Odisha following large-scale protests, questions remain about whether India-based JSW Steel, which took over the project, can successfully revive the 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant and coal-fired power plant. POSCO initiated the project in 2005 but exited in 2017 due to sustained local opposition.

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.