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

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis

By Our Representative
The recent World Bank-prepared Government of India-sponsored report placing Gujarat as No 1 state in ease of doing business has rankled several states, considered highly industrial, such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. 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

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam* Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded reaction in the form of a link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Modi govt intimidating US citizens critical of abuses in India: NY Christian group to Biden

Counterview Desk the New York Council of Churches for its release of an open letter calling on the Biden administration to “speak out forcefully” against rising Hindu extremist violence targeting Christians and other minorities in India. In the letter addressed to President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other major elected officials, the NY Council of Churches expressed "grave concern regarding escalating anti-Christian violence" throughout India, particularly in Manipur, where predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo tribals have faced hundreds of violent attacks on their villages, churches, and homes at the hands of predominantly Hindu Meitei mobs.

Green revolution "not sustainable", Bt cotton a failure in India: MS Swaminathan

MS Swaminathan Counterview Desk In a recent paper in the journal “Current Science”, distinguished scientist PC Kesaven and his colleague MS Swaminathan, widely regarded as the father of the Green Revolution, have argued that Bt insecticidal cotton, widely regarded as the continuation of the Green Revolution, has been a failure in India and has not provided livelihood security for mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers. Sharply taking on Green Revolution, the authors say, it has not been sustainable largely because of adverse environmental and social impacts, insisting on the need to move away from the simplistic output-yield paradigm that dominates much thinking. Seeking to address the concerns about local food security and sovereignty as well as on-farm and off-farm social and ecological issues associated with the Green Revolution, they argue in favour of what they call sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on a ‘systems approach’ and ‘ecoagriculture’. Pointing ou

Link India's 'deteriorating' religious conditions with trade relations: US policymakers told

By Our Representative Commissioners on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) raised concerns about the “sophisticated, systematic persecution” of religious minorities by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a hearing on India in Washington DC.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Why is green revolution harmful for nutrition, food safety, environment, climate change

By Bharat Dogra* A lie repeated a hundred times will not turn a lie into a truth. The big media should realize this and stop perpetuating the lie of the green revolution saving India from hunger, long after the world has awakened to the reality of how harmful the green revolution has been from the point of nutrition, food safety, environment and climate change.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Busy in political event, Gujarat govt 'evaded' plans to reduce massive Narmada floods

Counterview Desk Farmer rights group Khedut Ekta Manch Gujarat in a letter to Bhupendrabhai Patel, chief minister, with copies sent to the officials concerned, has asked the Gujarat government to form an independent committee to investigate the recent massive flooding in Narmada, even as seeking proper compensation to those affected by the disaster, many of whom are farmers.

Search This Blog