Assocham says Gujarat investment declined 54.5% amid Vibrant claims of Rs 25 lakh crore worth proposals

An analysis put out by one of India’s top corporate bodies, the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), has revealed that Gujarat’s industrial investment proposals on year-on-year basis have declined by a whopping 54.5%. The analysis is considered significant, as it seeks to indirectly contrast what happened at the Vibrant Gujarat business summit, where a claim was made that the state had attracted a whopping Rs 25 lakh crore worth of investment proposals, highest ever.

As against Rs 25 lakh crore, Assocham analysis said, during January-September 2014 Gujarat received just about Rs 31,788 crore worth of investment. This is, it added, as against more than double as much -- Rs 69,847 crore – investment received during January-September 2013.
The industry body’s analysis is based on analysis of industrial entrepreneurial memorandums (IEMs), letters of intent (LoIs) and direct industrial licenses (DILs), released by the Government of India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
The analysis, significantly, comes amidst Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort to strongly showcase Gujarat as the model of development for the country through the Vibrant Gujarat investment summit. Not only Gujarat; India under Modi, Assocham contended a fortnight ago (January 7), has considerably slowed down. Thus, country received investment proposals worth Rs.362,805 crore in January-September 2014, a drop from Rs.451,643 crore in the corresponding period of 2013.
It is not known what made Assocham come up with such a short-period analysis, which is generally not considered advisable for investment proposals. Experts believe, investment proposals may take a stride in a particular year, but may go down in another, depending on the type of projects proposed. Hence, they are not credible. It is advisable to take a longer duration analysis, say of five years, while calculating investments.
Assocham did not stop here. It went ahead by declaring that Chhattisgarh has acquired “lion’s share” of about 45 per cent in the total amount of proposed investments in India, with Rs 1,61,836 crore, during January-September 2014.
This is, it said, nearly 420 per cent over the corresponding period of January-September 2013. “Other states, which registered significant growth in terms of proposed investments, were Punjab (184 per cent), Karnataka (166 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (108 per cent) and Assam (25 per cent)”, it , suggesting Gujarat, on the other hand, registered a decline.
Assocham "analyses" come a week after it officially sharply criticized the Modi Cabinet's decision to peg the reserve price for 900 MHz spectrum above the telecom regulator's recommendation, declaring, “it will not only impact consumers but also affect the government's Digital India initiative.” It wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the move would impact growth and expansion of quality networks.
"The industry is deeply concerned with the Cabinet's decision to raise the reserve price for 900 MHz spectrum," media reports quoted Assocham as saying. The reserve prices for the proposed auction of spectrum in the 900 MHz band in 18 service areas was increased by the Cabinet by 32.5% over the reserve prices recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Comments

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.

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."

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.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

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.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

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.

Search This Blog