PANAJI
Goa is ranked among the bottom five States, in fact second from the bottom after Assam, in attracting new industrial investment in the 2022-23 fiscal, a new study by a team of economists and researchers of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said.
Assam, Goa, Kerala, West Bengal and Haryana are the five States listed at the bottom of the table by the RBI study which incidentally paints a bullish picture of the national investment climate.
It said, investments pledged in terms of total project costs in the country during 2022-23 amounted to Rs 352,624 crore, up nearly 80 per cent over the previous year and a new peak since 2014-15.
However, more than 57% of these pledged new investments were cornered by the top five States -- Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The study is based on data provided by lenders -- Banks and Financial Institutions -- who have already lent a fraction of these total project costs in as many as 547 project-specific investment proposals.
The findings of the RBI study which cut a sorry figure for Goa, fly in the face of tall claims made by the State government with respect to industrial investments and job creation.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had claimed after chairing the last meeting of the Goa Investment Promotion Board (IPB) held in February-March that 10 projects with a collective investment of Rs 347.93 crore and potential to create about 3,500 jobs had been approved.
None of that investment has seemingly materialised, going by the findings of the RBI study.
Both Sawant and Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho have also recently indicated that Goa could host a big investment from the Tata Group, which already has significantly large operations in the State exclusively in the hospitality space through its Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) which has multiple properties under its 'Taj' brand.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party's House Leader, Venzy Viegas, slammed the Sawant government accusing it of selling lies and fooling the public with its claims on 'ease-of-doing-business' and private investments in the State.
The Benaulim MLA posted on X (formerly Twitter) : "For all the blah blah abt ease-of-doing biz & attracting investments we get from @DrPramodPSawant & his ministers, here's the truth: Goa second from the bottom. Wake up, roll your sleeves and hit the road running. Enough of your PR & headline grabbing speeches to fool the people."
