The India Today survey of investments in small states has revealed that Goa dropped to eighth place in 2015, from first in 2014. This comes despite claims that investments into the state have increased this year. However, even the best laid surveys can sometimes not get things right.
Here’s where questions arise. For one, the state hardly saw any investments during the last few years of the previous Congress rule and even for the first few years of BJP rule. So, how was the state in first place for 2014? The answer lies in the fact that the other nine small states, most of them located in North East India, did not see any investments for quite a while. Goa’s miniscule investment outlay propelled them up to first place.
Now the drop to eighth will shock some, but the fact remains that 2015 has been Goa’s best year for a while now. The survey doesn’t take the current financial year into consideration, otherwise Goa would have seriously earned its first place status and will surely do so when the next survey comes out.
But, none of this means that all is well in Goa, when it comes to investments. It now has competition from the other small states. Sikkim and Meghalaya have stepped up their game quite aggressively, actively pursuing investments. Pharma companies have started to journey towards the North East and that bodes well for Goa’s competitors.
One of the best things to happen to Goa recently was the setting up of the Investment Promotion Board. The IPB does take care of some aspects of governmental red tape by okaying plans if all the checks are balances are in place. This does help speed up the process, especially when it comes to norms and laws. However, there is still the matter of running to different departments, from the TCP, GIDC, as well as power and water, to get permissions and other certifications in place. This must change. Goa also lacks Foreign Direct Investment. While the Central government seems to be working to increase FDI quotas for different industries, Goa seems to not take advantage of that. Goa must take advantage of what it has, an English speaking population which is a great catchment area for employees, as well as the potential to have a good work-life balance.
Investments this year were quite good but the lack of a single window system will still torment potential investors, as well as the land related problems that are now de rigueur in the state. The government needs to start working on easing the applications process and aiding the IPB by implementing a single window system. If all these issues can be sorted, investments into the state will increase, employment opportunities will go up and the economic status of the state will skyrocket.
Then, it doesn’t matter whether Goa stands at number one or number eight. As long as the state is in a good place, a ranking is mere cosmetics.
