Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa has been growing at the rate 10.88 per cent between the years 2015-16 and 2019-21 due to faster growth in sectors like mining, pharmaceuticals and tourism, said Goa’s chief minister Pramod Sawant at the virtual meet of Assocham Foundation Week in the Session on Goa- organized by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
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The Chief Minister mentioned that the State government has prepared a roadmap for the future of the State. “Our aim is to develop Goa as a skill intensive hub of economic activity where the systems of production are enmeshed with ecological protection to ensure a quality of life that is sustainable,” he said.
He explained that the an amended Investment Promotion Act will soon be passed in Goa to facilitate investments in key focus sectors like IT, education, films, entertainment, tourism etc.
“Our IT Policy offers many incentives while our Start-up Policy aims to give an opportunity to young entrepreneurs and innovative businesses in order to make Goa the preferred start up destination of India. The infrastructural projects taken up by my government is definitely going to make Goa more attractive for investors as well as for tourists,” said the chief minister.
Ironically, the chief minister mentioned that “Goa has well developed social, physical and industrial infrastructure and mobile and Internet connectivity,” however there were several disruptions in the connectivity on social media platforms when the programme was live.
He also added that to facilitate the tourism industry extension of licences and the amendment in Excise Laws to make it simpler and remove some provisions like requirement of police clearance every year has already been done.
Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, president, Assocham and co-founder and MD, Hiranandani Group of Companies stated that the strong focus of Goa in industrial sector will play a pivotal role in improving competitiveness of industries, adoption of efficient technology, making it ready for next generation industries along with Goa state driving India to become USD 5 trillion economy.
“Proactive and responsive Goa government is building infrastructure in the State to create a conducive environment to bring in investment which will contribute to achieve USD5 trillion economy for our country,” said Hiranandani.
Senior VP and the president elect of Assocham Vineet Agarwal who is also the MD, Transport Corporation of India Limited stated that Goa is a market brand by itself with millions of visitors every year. “Goa should take the advantage of this and become India’s first smart state as a world class business destination for industries and consumers for an Aatmanirbhar India,” said Vineet Agarwal.
Mangirsh Pai Raikar, the chairman of Assocham, Goa Council said, “Assocham is always ready to extend its help and support to the Goa government, we also congratulate the Dr Pramod Sawant and Goa government for a big win in recently happened Zilla Panchayat elections”.
Chief operating officer and interim director of Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore Joseph Coelho congratulated Assocham for organising this collaborative discussion amongst the Government and Industries to drive the larger Goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. “We at Vedanta are fully committed to be an equal partner in this journey by unlocking the true potential of the Natural resource industry through most sustainable practices. We welcome the policy reforms introduced by the Central Government which are extremely vital to overcome the economic crisis precipitated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the same shall put back our country on the growth path. I am also confident that the government will further take appropriate steps towards resolving the Goa mining stalemate very soon which would not only get the industry back on its feet but also provide livelihood of lakhs of Goans,” said Joseph Coelho.
