Uttarakhand plans to attract investment from around India and the globe as a boost to its economy. The Chief Minister will be visiting the UK, also, in this effort. A Global Investors’ Summit is planned for 8-9 December in Dehradun. It is hoped that over Rs 2.5 lakh crores worth of investments would come in, particularly from members of the Indian Diaspora.
The obvious questions that emerge are – how prepared is the state for the investment and does it have the carrying capacity? Are the basic infrastructure and services available? Be it tourism or industry – even if it is the IT Sector – there is a basic requirement for land. If such sites have been identified for transfer, are they where they are required, or will investors have to ‘adjust’? While it is true that various kinds of connectivity are being enhanced, largely by the central government, have these reached the required level?
These questions do not imply that the effort should not be made. It is just that, the more homework is done before the event, the better would be the results. Can this be left to the overworked bureaucracy? What suggestions and advice have been received from the state’s business community? What are the present and likely future trends in the financial sector? What systems have been put in place to ensure transparency and regulated activity? Are there any incentives being given to attract the investors and are these sustainable?
How much thought has gone into identifying regions that have the necessary investible funds? These would be the Middle-East, South-East Asia, even some parts of Europe and the US. The UK, on the other hand, is seeing an economic decline and is actually looking forward to investment from India! Are there any special offers that have already been made, or groups identified inclined to invest, to justify the UK trip?
Ideally, the government’s job is to create favourable conditions in consultation with business enterprises, which in turn would do the actual job of building partnerships and attracting investment. The important question to ask is how well are local start-ups in various sectors doing in the state? What is their percentage of success? If there is not a favourable enough environment, why is it so? Also, is the human resource necessary for the new enterprises available, or will migration from other states be required? Is the infrastructure available to absorb this influx? What will be the impact on the environment?
It must be remembered that revolutions come at a price – sometimes development is better left to evolution!
