Maharashtra, Gujarat get lion’s share of investment — Assocham

APRIL 2: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said while Maharashtra and Gujarat continued to get the lion's share ...

APRIL 2: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said while Maharashtra and Gujarat continued to get the lion’s share of investment approvals in the country, the quantum of investment underwent a shift in the case of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar.

A study done by Assocham showed that the investment pattern has also changed in favour of Delhi, West Bengal, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.

The total investment approvals saw an increase of Rs 40,592 crore at Rs 11,56,754 crore during the April-December period of 1999-2000 over Rs 75,065 crore in the same period of 1998-99.

Story continues below this ad

In 1998-99, Andhra Pradesh attracted investment approvals worth Rs 6,461 crore which went down to Rs 3,864 crore during the same period last fiscal. In the case of Karnataka, there has been a downswing from Rs 7,292 crore to Rs 3,780 crore during the corresponding period.

The states which witnessed a downward trend in the total investment approvals during 1999-2000 as against 1998-99 included Assam, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

States including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry saw an increase in their total investment approvals during the same period. The total investment approvals received in Maharashtra during April-December 1999-2000 rose to Rs 33,267 crore from Rs 21,450 crore in the same period of 1998-99 and in Gujarat to Rs 14,163 crore from Rs 21,450 crore in the reference period of the last fiscal.

Delhi received Rs 2,073 crore worth investment proposals over Rs 889 crore during the same period of 1998-99, Orissa attracted Rs 6,343 crore as against Rs 1,671 crore while proposals for Rajasthan went up to Rs 2,071 crore in the first nine months of the last fiscal from Rs 1,766 crore a year ago.

Story continues below this ad

Assocham in its analysis said there was a major shift in investment in sectors like information technology and telecom despite infrastructure being the major source of attraction for investors.

It said in the liberalised economic era, investors are preferring investor-friendly bureaucracy and policies.

"Therefore, there is a need for state governments to improve infrastructure, streamline administrative procedure, improve implementation mechanism, institutional linkages and promote source-based industries," the chamber said.

Assocham said if the states lagging behind the industrially advanced ones do not act fast to attract more investment, an imbalance might take place in the development of the country.