Soon after the ban of mining in Goa in 2012, the revenue dipped and the State government had to sell bonds on several occasions to ensure that government officials receive their salaries, perks and increments in time. In the last four years the Goa government has taken a loan amounting to Rs 7,320 crore by way of selling government bonds. The situation is alarming and investment in the State is abysmally low.
In addition to these problems Goa in past has painted a very dismal picture as compared to other states in India in the list of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) which has further added fuel to the fire. Last year many departments were asked by the then Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, to get cracking on improving Goa’s lowly 19th rank in India on EoDB. Significantly, Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) which was 18 per cent last year has now gone up to over 65 per cent. The top three states in the list of EoDB are Andhra Pradesh followed by Telangana and Haryana.
Efforts to bring in investments in the State began as early as 2014 when the state government established an Investment Promotion Board (IPB). The role of the board is meant to provide and facilitate approvals from the Government of Goa and its entities and also provides assistance in obtaining clearances from the Central Government or its entities. However, till date IPB does not have enough power to portray themselves as a single window body.
In fact, seeing this ‘not good’ performance the present Chief Minister and the Industry Minister have supervised many meetings to ensure that compliance levels and rankings of Goa goes up which will eventually draw more entrepreneurs in the State.
Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant is now extending his full support to the Vibrant Goa event which will take place in Goa next month. The event will have more interaction with various businesses and trading houses of the world, itself proves his intentions and commitment for having more business in our state. Ease of doing business is a part of the Vibrant Goa initiative but there is an issue which needs to be addressed internally first.
Chairman of the Fomento Group, Audhut Timblo said, “The Goa government should get good advice from great minds and implement it faithfully and sincerely making mid-course correction.”
Former President of the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industries (GCCI), Nitin Kunkolienker, said, “IPB not only has become an additional window which does not know what to do but it is also not sending good signals to the investors who may be interested in Goa. No investor knows whether IPB is a compulsory or an optional body to go through. Government needs to crack a whip and become vibrant and proactive, work on war-footing to clean up the mess, which includes quality of roads and infrastructure in the State.”
Past chairman, Goa State Council, Confederation of Indian Industry, Kirit Maganlal who also worked alongside two of the past CEOs of IPB said, “I empathize with the challenges that all the 3 CEOs had to go through considering that other than some self professed NGOs, Goa has little to offer to woo industry. The need of the hour is to ensure that CEOs of IPB, which was conceptualised for EoDB, are given required mandate and powered importance, either through a kind of cabinet rank, as is being done in some states.”
“State government should ensure that all their expertise over which they have been selected, is put to productive use rather than make puppets out of them. Also, the IPB needs more autonomy by way of suggesting structural and labour reforms. Their mandate should subsume most licences and the process to decide on the scarce industrial land allotment should primarily be initiated through the IPB. The CEO should be made to be seen as the ultimate face of the Govt and Industry alike. This will bring in confidence to investors,” added Maganlal.
Immediate past president of GCCI, Sandip Bhandare said, “The government of Goa should look into the reasons and resolve those which has been highlighted by the IPB CEO who recently resigned and ensure that whoever substitutes him should not have problems in taking decisions and move faster than what it was being done till yesterday.”
Bhandare also felt that a person coming from the private sector may not be fully aware in the way government functions and this could lead in delays which this person is not used to as in private sector the decisions are made fast with element of risk involved.
Land, infrastructure and Ease of Doing Business are the most important factors for expansion of existing businesses and setting new ones. Employment can be generated only through expansion of products and services from the state.
Rajkumar Kamat, president of Vibrant Goa said that, “Most important, of course is EoDB. Here what we require are simple but robust online systems and change in mindset. This is where the focus needs to be. Government has identified IPB as the single window for businesses and if the CEO is moving on, it is necessary to quickly hire another competent one and guided through before the present CEO is relieved so that there is continuity. Much deeper engagement of the industry bodies with constant monitoring by the Chief Minister can intensify this process of improving upon EoDB and all these factors are important in the journey towards Vibrant Goa.”
Chairman of Alcon Group, Anil Counto did not mince words and said, “I feel the resignation of the CEO of IPB will have no effect on the EoDB as it can be seen from the last five years of working and since inception, IPB CEO could not play a insignificant role, although our first CEO was very capable on all fronts. In fact, it is the support and will of the government which drives any particular department or the Board to perform their duties and make it a success.”
Counto added that if at all we have to make the IPB viable and active, “the first step is to ease on the red tape and bureaucracy of doing business in Goa, for which Government of Goa should have the will to push this initiative forward to make it a reality. Since IPB’s inception in 2014 to till date, I have observed negligible (worth a size) projects coming forth to fruition, for whatever reason.”
Milind Anvekar, vice president of Goa Technology Association said that, “Traditionally Goan economy has been driven by tourism, mining and agriculture. However, over the years, especially after the mining ban, the strong need to support and promote other potential business sectors was realised. As per the 2018 data available, Goa is ranked 19th in the EoDB index for states in India. As part of the BRAP Plan for 2019, the Department of Industrial Policy and promotion has outlined 80 reforms that Goa has to implement as part of a nationwide exercise to improve the EODB. Under the leadership of our Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant we feel confident that we will address this issue in time-bound manner. Government is committed to redefining Bussiness in Goa and embracing and promoting IT.”
Anvekar added that government commitment and support to initiatives like Vibrant Goa where in international businesses and investors are invited to Goa for B2B, B2G and G2G for the focused sectors clearly show the positive intend of our Government. “For now we maintain confidence in our Government and extend full cooperation where ever possible and as requested to help build solutions. We are hopeful that in the 2020 review, Goa will definitely improve its ranking amongst other states in India.”
