Gujarat No 1?: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu question World Bank ranking, say report is based on old data

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis

A recent World Bank-prepared Government of India-sponsored report placing Gujarat as No 1 state in ease of doing business, ahead of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, has turned controversial. Reacting sharply, while the Maharashtra government has said it would ask the Centre to recommend to World Bank to "reassess" the ranking (No 8), the Tamil Nadu government has said the report's analysis ranking the state No 12 is "purely a perception-based" and not on "factuals and efficiencies".
Taking exception to the report, Maharashtra's industries minister Subhash Desai has said, “The observations are based on old information. The government has taken a number of reforms, including amendments to the Factories Act, reduction in the number of approvals from 76 to 37, doing away with inspector raj and relaxation in River Regulatory Zone Regulations.”
Among the important investments made in the recent past, the state government has said, include Rs 31,000 crore by Foxconn, which is to set up R&D and manufacturing facility; Rs 6,400 crore by General Motors, which is to to expand its Talegaon facility following the decision to close down its Gujarat unit; Rs by 4,500 crore Blackstone-Panchshil IT park in Navi Mumbai; Rs 1,700 crore by Chrysler to manufacture its marquee brand Grand Cherokee in Pune; and so on.
The state government has further said, Maharashtra has attracted investment intentions worth Rs 60,000 crore over the last one year after the BJP came to power in the state.
“After the Bank takes into account the recent initiatives, Maharashtra will be ranked third,” he added. “Some more reforms are in the pipeline, which, once implemented, will see Maharashtra ranked at first position next year.”
Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress party, has supported the Maharashtra government's saying, the state "is the most desirable destination for foreign investment and also for investment in industry, financial services, information technology and entertainment."
Confederation of Indian Industry’s state council chairman Arup Basu has commented, “Although Maharashtra ranked eight among all Indian states, it ranked the highest in ‘Obtaining infrastructure-related utilities’, with clearly defined time lines for electricity, water and sewage connections, and a reformed electricity connection application process and also in ‘enforcing contracts’."
Questioning the report's content, a Tamil Nadu government spokesperson said, it is surprising that "states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Punjab which are more industrialised and investor-friendly, are on the bottom."
The official wondered how the report could compare states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and north-eastern states with states such as Tamil Nadu, "which has higher penetration of industrialisation than the former lot", adding, "It is unfair that states without even proper roads, power, social security and a decent literacy ratio were compared with Tamil Nadu, which is much better placed in all these parameters."
The official further said, "Tamil Nadu was the first state to implement single-window clearance way back in1995-1996. No state has the record of giving clearances in 12-30 days, which Tamil Nadu has, but no mark was given to this, they pointed out."
"The report is not objective. The World Bank did not look at how effective the systems are in single-window clearances; how labour laws are how inspector raj has been reduced in Tamil Nadu. It is very unfortunate," said the official, adding, "The report was based on how business can access services without any hassle through the internet, but not on what the state has achieved in terms of infrastructure."
Pointing out that Tamil Nadu is the second largest contributor to India’s GDP with 8.4% share, the official said, the state has a 17% share in number of factories in India -- higher than any other state -- with 36,869 units. It has a 16% share in India’s industrial workforce with 16,02,447 workers and ranks 3rd in terms of cumulative FDI inflows ($16 billion from 2000 to 2014), 3rd in terms of invested capital of Rs 2,92,260.06 crore and 3rd in terms of value of total industrial output of Rs 6,19,525.33 crore."
One government which is particularly pleased with the report is West Bengal, trying hard to improve its image in the business community. Ranked at 11, higher than Tamil Nadu and Punjab, the report is being interpreted by the West Bengal government as "a reflection of the small-ticket reforms the state has been undertaking in order to attract investment."
“The state had always carried a baggage of the past. The current government in its initial days did little to change it, but now we feel there is an impetus,” an industrialist has been quoted as saying.
Land will not be a problem in West Bengal. West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) has 4,400 acres of ready land under its possession for industrial development. This is apart from the land for 6 townships in the state. Another 4,000 acres of land will be made available soon," state finance minister Amit Mitra said.

Comments

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

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.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.

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.

Not just Haren Pandya, even Dhirubhai Shah, youngest assembly speaker, wanted to be Gujarat CM

Dhirubhai Shah with Keshubhai Patel When Keshubhai Patel was sought to be replaced by the BJP high command in 2001, everyone knows that Narendra Modi became the final choice. However, someone who was part of the top circles those days now tells me something I had no knowledge of—that the choice was between Modi and a Kutch MLA, Dhirubhai Shah, who served as the 16th Speaker from March 1998 to December 2002 during the 10th Assembly, the youngest to take the office.

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead.

Search This Blog