Assam: Raking it in

The two-day Advantage Assam Global Investment Summit in Guwahati on February 3 and 4 resulted in the signing of 200 MoUs worth Rs 1 lakh crore. "Assam's strategic location makes it an ideal destination to do business with ASEAN nations," said the state's delighted commerce and industry minister Chandra Mohan Patowary. Delegates from 23 nations, including Cambodia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan attended the event alongside Indian corporate heavyweights like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, N. Chandrasekaran of Tata Sons, Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi, Amor Abrol of Air Asia and Spice Jet's Ajay Singh. Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali was also present.

But while the Assam government is celebrating the success of the summit, opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, critics are calling it a farce. The bulk of the MoUs, they point out, have been inked with the public sector oil companies already present in the state. RTI activist Akhil Gogoi says the Rs 2,500 crore promised by Ambani will go towards "opening shops to sell Jio SIM cards". And Tata's proposal to bring cancer care to 15 districts is merely a CSR initiative that will operate through government-run hospitals.

Also, local entrepreneurs like Shyamkanu Mahanta point to the dire power deficit in the state. Patowary claims the new industry will be powered from the National Power Grid, through the new 6,000 megawatt transmission line from Agra to Biswanath Chariali (in Assam).

Even without a stated industrial policy, CM Sarbananda Sonowal claims Assam has attracted Rs 6,500 crore worth of investments since the BJP assumed power two years ago. As proof of his government's commitment to industry, Patowary waggles the new Assam Industries (Tax Reimbursement for Eligible Units) Scheme, 2017, which allows up to 200 per cent tax exemptions on fixed capital for units set up till December 31, 2022. He points out that the Centre's policy for industrial development of the Northeast is also due soon.

Sonowal and Patowary are waiting for Delhi to step in with, among other things, Union telecom minister Manoj Sinha's promise of Rs 10,700 crore by December 2018, to improve telephone connectivity in the region, 24x7 air connectivity to Guwahati and 92 new routes under the second round of the Centre's Udaan scheme.