AHMEDABAD:
Gujarat slipped two places, to rank third overall in the latest investment ranking report released by the National Council of Applied Economic Research, NCAER-- India’s oldest economic policy research institute.
Read the fine print and one realizes that the state lagged on several competitive fronts in a year to lose its position to Delhi — now at the helm — and
Tamil Nadu. While, the Union government’s department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) index rankings are based on action plans of industries and government departments, the
NCAER index ranking is anchored on perception of the firms in the states.
NCAER’s Investment Potential Index (N-SIP) has based competitiveness of Indian states on six pillars: land, labour, infrastructure, economic climate, political stability and governance, and business perceptions.
In 2017, Gujarat was ranked third when it came to infrastructure. This year the state slipped to the eighth position. The report states that Gujarat was dislodged by
Uttarakhand and Telangana, while Gujarat and Odisha witnessed the maximum slippage in infrastructure rankings.
In land related stalled projects and land availability for industries Gujarat ranked 10. Interestingly, while Gujarat and Haryana were perceived by investors to be the best in terms of aspects related to labour, when it came to labour issues like the least man-days lost, Gujarat ranked 15 and in case of states with number of employees under contract, the state ranked 18.
When it came to industry-friendly tariffs, Gujarat ranked 14 in the country. In 2018, Gujarat was outdone by Delhi which grabbed the top position in the nationwide ranking, while Tamil Nadu came in at number 2 position. Delhi tops the rankings under the third and fourth pillars on infrastructure and economic conditions in the state. Tamil Nadu comes in second place and tops the rankings in labour and governance.
Senior Fellow at NCAER, Dr Anushree Sinha, in a press release said, “The index measures investment potential and is anchored on perception of the business firms in various states.” She added, “ NCAER feels perception is a forerunner of the actual intent of investment. The level of awareness of the ground level state official is also a critical driver of perception.”
