Gujarat "leads" in FDI investment, India replaces China as top destination due to privatization, labour reforms

By Our Representative
Gujarat has “topped” the list of 10 most sought-after destination states for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2015 in a comparison drawn between India and China by a new report by the Financial Times Group's thinktank FDI Intelligence. The report says, Gujarat "attracted $12.4bn and claimed 10% of all capital investment into both countries."
"In 2011, Gujarat was ranked the 14th most popular state for FDI within the two countries", the report says, adding, "Maharashtra in western India has been one of the strongest performers across the years and it has continued to close the gap on the top Chinese destination, Shanghai Municipality, with the locations attracting $8.3bn and $10.6bn, respectively, in 2015."
However, the report, titled "The FDI Report 2016: Global greenfield investment trends" does not say how much of the "committed" investment has actually fructified. In fact, a separate FDI Insight analysis does not mention Ahmedabad, Gujarat's business capital, or any other city of the state, among top ten FDI job creating cities in the Asia-Pacific region.
It says, with 15,000 jobs, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City was "the regional leader in job creation over July 1 to December 31, 2015", adding, "Not far behind was the southern Indian city of Bangalore, which came second as a destination for FDI jobs, with 14,223 created over the same period."

"Singapore came third as a FDI destination for jobs, with 11,042. Noida, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, came in fourth with 9,922 and Shanghai took fifth place with 8674", says the report.
The "sensational" revelation on Gujarat comes admidst "The FDI Report 2016" claiming that “India replaced China as leading recipient of capital investment in Asia-Pacific with announced FDI of $63bn". It adds, "China suffered a 16% drop in FDI projects." India, on the other hand, experienced an “8% increase in project numbers.”
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making India and Gujarat No 1 destination, the report says, the factors which led to this included pushing into the backdrop such factors like "lack of progressive FDI reforms, retrospective taxation, excessive permit requisites, centre-state political stalemates, inflexible labour markets, land acquisition issues and inadequate infrastructure hindered large-scale FDI into India prior to 2013."
Praising Modi his "campaign" for attracting FDI, the report underlines, it "garnered global attention as he has encouraged foreign investors to privatise key sectors such as the railways, defence manufacturing and insurance, as well as the liberalisation of medical devices." It adds, all this has helped in "ease of creating business."
The report says, "FDI flows into India increased from $24bn in 2013 to $59bn in 2015. The floodgates had been opened. India’s dramatic ascension in the global FDI rankings has largely been due to a dynamic Modi-led government focusing on ‘big bang’ FDI and labour law reforms."

It adds, "Relative stability within the government coupled with an effort to reduce the stagnating effects of bureaucracy has given foreign investors, across many industries, confidence in India as a remunerative investment opportunity. India announced itself as a global force in the FDI sector as it broke into the top 10 economies in terms of incoming FDI flows in 2014."
It praises what it calls "Modi’s marquee visit to New York in late 2015 saw a plethora of US-based CEOs of Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Ford, Cisco, IBM, Lockheed, Marriott, Starwood, MasterCard, Merck, Pepsi, DuPont, Dow and EY hosting the prime minister and citing plans to expand in India. This event turned out to be a causative indicator for 2015 as India moved up to number six in the world for FDI flows in 2015."

Comments

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

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".

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

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.

Delhi HC rules in favour of retired Air Force officer 'overcharged' for Covid treatment

By Rosamma Thomas* In a decision of May 22, 2023, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of petitioner Group Captain Suresh Khanna who was under treatment at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, between April 28 and May 5, 2021, for a period of eight days, for Covid-19 pneumonia. The petitioner had to pay Rs 3,55,286 as treatment costs, but the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) only reimbursed him for Rs 1,83,748, on the basis of government-approved rates.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah* One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Search This Blog