States woo NRIs for investments
Hyderabad: State governments are actively wooing investments from the non-resident Indian community at the ongoing Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being held in Hyderabad.

Each successive government is vying with the other by showcasing its potential.

The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, anchored a session in which six chief ministers and senior representatives presented their States' capabilities and investment opportunities.

The Maharashtra Government introduced the Bollywood element, with film star Jackie Shroff and popular director Subhash Ghai articulating their case in a separate session.

The Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, said that even though Gujarat was amongst the last States to be carved out, it had one of the fastest growing economies having 11 special economic zones. He said Gujarat has achieved a growth rate of 13 per cent in the agriculture sector against 4 per cent achieved by other states.

Kerala chief minister, Oommen Chandy, said that the State would soon receive about Rs20,000 crore in investments across two sectors and is amongst the first to have a private international airport.

The recently elected chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, said Bihar is basically an agrarian economy offering immense potential for post-harvest business, food processing and consumer products.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Dr Y. S. Rajashekara Reddy, said that a 20,000-acre knowledge corridor providing basic infrastructure to promote IT, biotech and other sectors is now under way. This along with infrastructure projects across the State offer immense opportunities for investments.

The chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said that the State succeeded in attracting about Rs3,500 crore in investments in the last three years and has the potential to harness about 20,000 MW of hydel energy. Projects worth 4,800 MW have been proposed thus far.

After the main plenary, each State had separate interactions with NRIs, giving them an overview of potential areas for investments.

The Secretary General of FICCI, Dr Amit Mitra, said 70 per cent of the foreign companies in the country are making profits from their Indian operations and about 84 per cent of them are planning further expansion of their activities. Reforms in infrastructure and labour hold the key to higher and sustainable growth, Dr Mitra said.
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Gulf NRIs may get voting rights: PM
Hyderabad: The first day of the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas that started here yesterday, was marked by the launch of overseas citizen of India (OCI) cards, an integrated remittance gateway, and signing of a memorandum of understanding between the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI).

Prime minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the conference and announced that a decision would soon be taken on granting voting rights to non-resident Indians in the Gulf.

Besides conferring the right to vote, the prime minister said the government would launch a more liberal "Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana" on February 1, 2006, to provide enhanced insurance benefits to workers.

Finance minister P Chidambaram, who launched an easy-to-use electronic remittance gateway, said the inflow of remittances from abroad increased from US$13bn in 2001 to US$21.7bn in 2005.
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Govt. gets Petronet to scout for LNG to restart Dabhol power plant
New Delhi: The Government has roped in Petronet LNG Ltd to scout for liquefied natural gas to fire up the 2,184 MW Dabhol power plant. Government officials said as GAIL was unsuccessful in getting LNG for restarting the plant by June 2006 it was decided to get Petronet on board the LNG sourcing committee.

More than five months after Dabhol's previous owners settled their claims with Indian authorities, Dabhol plant's present owner Ratnagiri Gas and Power (jointly owned by GAIL and National Thermal Power Corp) has not been able to begin work to finish the plant, whose 740 MW Phase-I was shut four years ago following a payment dispute. The 2.5 million tonnes a year LNG terminal is only 70 per cent complete.

General Electric and Bechtel, the power plant's earlier contractors, had agreed to help GAIL-NTPC complete the project but no contracts have been signed as LNG has not yet been tied-up, the official said. Petronet has been roped in to expedite the process.
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More FDI inflows will depend on stable policies: FICCI
New Delhi: According to a recent assessment by Ficci, of the factors influencing investors confidence in India, stability in policy guidelines, reduction in ground level obstacles, India's integration into the global economy in the form of opening up its market, reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, manpower availability and skills, stable exchange rates and government incentives are the major imperatives that the government would have to bear in mind in its quest for attracting large doses of FDI flows.

The investors feel that the move over to the Vat regime is the biggest indirect tax reform that has been undertaken in the country.

Further India's compliance with Trips is likely to have a positive impact on future FDI inflows to the country and it is felt that stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights in India would attract more and more companies to set up their R&D centres in the country.

India's integration into the global economy in the form of opening up its markets, reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers will attract more and more foreign investors into the country, the Ficci study said.

The recently signed Free Trade Agreement with Thailand and Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore were also welcomed by investors.
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