annual report1-final.qxd - Overseas Indian

Plenary Session 4
its in their Indian operations while 84 percent of
the foreign companies had plans for expansion of
their Indian operations.
He stated that, today, States had become key
players in economic reforms through there were
some growth disparities among Indian States.
Therefore, state-level reforms held the key to a
higher and sustainable growth trajectory and there
was a need for benchmark performance against
high growth states. Dr. Mitra asserted that for
States, reforms in infrastructure, labour markets
and governance were the key to success while fiscal
solvency was equally crucial
After Dr. Mitra’s presentation, Ahluwalia invited
all Chief Ministers and state delegation heads for
their presentations.
Dr. Y.S.R. Reddy, Chief Minster, Andhra Pradesh
started saying that the whole world was looking at
India as a great opportunity for investments.
‘India Everywhere’ was the key theme at Davos,
where the World Economic Forum was meeting
towards the end of January, 2006. The Indian economy
was on a very strong footing, he said, stating
that the fundamentals were very strong. Andhra
Pradesh was the miniature version of India.
“We are the largest south Indian State both in
terms of population and area,” he said. He further
outlined the profile of the State, which was rich in
infrastructure and human resource. He mentioned
that Andhra Pradesh was the leading agrarian
State and offered a great opportunity for setting up
of food and agro processing units. Other industries
that could be set up in the State were automobile
industries, electronic hardware, sugar, and leather.
The State Government had announced a new
Industrial Investment Policy for the period 2005-
2010. Similarly the Government had also
announced the IT Investment Policy and Food
Processing Policy (2005-2010), he said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at the outset,
said that his mandate was to take Bihar on the road
of development and assured the gathering that
things should surely change in Bihar for the good
of the State as well as the investor. The State’s
potential would be fully tapped and for all this, he
sought the overseas Indian support and participation.
While talking of investment possibilities, he
outlined that there was a great potential for investments
in urban infrastructure, integrated city
development and urban transport systems. He reiterated
that Bihar was changing, and requested
overseas Indians to join the process of change. He
quoted President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: “If India
is to succeed, Bihar must prosper.”
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi talked
about a “vibrant Gujarat” in which the focus was
why Gujarat was the ‘numero uno’ State in India.
He highlighted many aspects — from industry and
economic freedom to energy — in which Gujarat
was number one in this country. He highlighted
that Gujarat was not in competition with Indian
States. Rather, he said Gujarat wished to compete
with countries like Japan and China. He further
talked about Gujarat’s assistance to Afghanistan in
its rebuilding programme and also to Iran after the
recent earthquake there. He talked about the tribal
development programme, which was called
Gujarat Pattern.
Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Ghulam
Nabi Azad, in his speech, projected the profile of
the State and how J&K was progressing mainly
through tourism-related industries. He said that
flow of tourists was increasing year by year and
around 21,000 foreign visitors came to the Ladakh
region last year. Jammu & Kashmir would be
known like Switzerland in coming years, he said,
adding that there were opportunities in tourism
and horticulture for foreign investors. He invited
them to become partners in the progress and development
of J&K.
Vilash Rao Deshmukh, Chief Minister,
Maharastra, spoke about the commercial capital of
India, Mumbai, and how it was integral to any kind
of investment. He also asked investors to make a
wise decision as all States were presented on a single
platform. He suggested that investors could
judge States on the basis of fiscal environment,
investment policies, infrastructure and human
resource. He further asked FICCI to conduct a
study to see how much of investment had come to
India in the last four years and how much had been
contributed by the investor due to this particular
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