Himachal Pradesh, located in the western Himalayas, is a state of scenic beauty and also home to Asia’s largest pharmaceutical hub. It has consistently fared as one of the developed states of the country, outranking its counterparts in key development indicators such as healthcare and access to education. By utilising the water resources available in the state through major hydel projects, Himachal Pradesh currently contributes 26% to India’s hydro power potential. The state also has the distinction of being a state where 100% electricity is generated through green sources.
At present, Himachal Pradesh is in the state of an accelerated socioeconomic growth and transformed into an industry and services led economy and there is always a scope to boost the growth of such economy. In this regard, the efforts of the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Jairam Thakur ji, are truly admirable.
The laudable efforts of Jairam Ji
The current state government of Himachal Pradesh under the exemplary leadership of Jairam Thakur ji is leaving no stone unturned to boost the development of Himachal Pradesh further. The government which is working with a motto of ‘Shikar ki Ore Himachal’ is now gearing up to attract foreign investment in the state. As a first step, Jairam ji along with a delegation of ministers visited Netherlands, Germany and Dubai this month in order to attract foreign investments in real estate and tourism sector. This visit was scheduled as part of the Rising Himachal 2019 scheme of the state government.
The objective of Rising Himachal 2019 scheme
The objective of the scheme is to help the economy of Himachal Pradesh by creating employment opportunities, encouraging entrepreneurship and develop an ecosystem which supports the stakeholders to excel in a variety of economic activities. In my opinion, this is a laudable move by the state government and a model that many states could emulate. The state government has, over the years, introduced several key changes in the regulatory regime to facilitate ease of doing business in Himachal Pradesh. Concessions such as time bound project approvals, single window clearance for all required approvals and self/third party certification instead of time consuming departmental inspections are the few highlights of the 150+ regulatory reforms undertaken by the state government.
To showcase Himachal Pradesh as an investment hub, the state government will be hosting The Global Investors’ Meet 2019. The inaugural edition of the marquee event will be held at Dharamshala on November 07 to 08, 2019. The event aims to showcase the policy & regulatory environment, investment opportunities across eight focus sectors to boost manufacturing and employment generation in Himachal Pradesh. This will in turn result in a massive growth of the economy.
How the foreign investment will help Himachal Pradesh
I feel that Jairam ji and his team have designed the entire investor summit very strategically which will reap maximum benefits for the state. For e.g., automobile and pharmaceuticals are one of the eight focus sectors where the state government intends to attract foreign investment. Therefore, Jairamji decided to visit Germany which is leading in both pharmaceuticals and automobiles. In fact, several German companies are already operational in India and reaching out to Germany to further invest in Himachal Pradesh is a very strategic move. Similarly, Netherlands is a global leader in the dairy sector and there is a great investment potential in food processing and agri-business in Himachal Pradesh. It is really admirable how the entire exercise of visits followed by the Global Investors’ Meet has been planned to leverage the core potentials of Himachal Pradesh.
In February 2019, the government executed memorandum of understanding with 159 domestic companies (including public sector undertaking) to attract an investment of over Rs 17,000 crore and generate employment opportunities for 40,000 people. The state government is constantly coming up up with new policies for industry, tourism, warehouse and logistics and information technology to provide more attractive incentives to the entrepreneurs. This shows the commitment of Jairamji in taking the development of the economy of Himachal Pradesh to the next level. Jairamji makes it a point to meet the investors and entrepreneurs frequently to understand the ways in which industrial development in Himachal Pradesh can be boosted. This also helps him to assess the policy measures that can be provided to attract more investments.
Conclusion
Foreign investment is a great way to fillip the growth of the economy of a state. More foreign investments mean infusion of capital, generation of more employment opportunities, development of local talent and an increase in revenue generation. In my opinion, the stupendous efforts demonstrated by CM Jairam Thakur ji in attracting foreign investment in Himachal Pradesh beautifully complements the avowed doctrine of Modiji – Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas.
