PANAJI: The Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, on Thursday, said that 38 out of the 114 projects – including new as well as expansion projects, cleared by the state Investment Promotion Board (IPB) till October 1, 2016, which comprise 35 per cent of the total projects, are proceeding on the right track, and hence there is no truth in the ‘ease of doing business’ report as prepared by the department of industrial policy and promotion. The particular central government report had placed Goa at the 21st position in terms of ease of doing business, on an all-India level. The report has been prepared by the Centre in collaboration with the World Bank.
Stating that he has recently taken a review of the working of the Investment Promotion Board, the Chief Minister said that the IPB, on November 2 cleared 20 fresh projects, which now take the total number of projects cleared by the Board, to 134.
“These 134 projects are expected to bring in to the state an investment of Rs 10,727 crore, with combined employment potential of 23,359,” Parsekar maintained, informing that out of these projects, 6 new projects have already been completed, while another 9 cleared for expansion are also complete. “This takes the number of completed projects as cleared by the IPB to 15, which have a potential of employing 1,246 people,” he noted.
Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister said that in addition, there are 23 other projects cleared by the IPB, which have completed all the legal formalities, and their work is proceeding in right direction.
He also revealed that more than 80 per cent of the investors linked to these projects as cleared by the Board, are Goans. Speaking further, Parsekar counter-questioned that if there is no ease of doing business in Goa, then why are the investors queuing up before the IPB.
“I have checked the parameters followed by the particular report of the department of industrial policy and promotion, such as taxation system, power, water supply, labour problems and so on, and found that those states, which needed to undertake major reforms in these parameters, gained top position as regards ease of doing business, ” he remarked,
“However, Goa is in no way behind such states.”
The Chief Minister also said that in the industrial sector, except for the plots in the industrial estates, the government has provided all the land to investors and not to the builders.
Replying to a question, Parsekar said that the file as regards the Goa State Co-operative Bank is presently on his table, and he is now short-listing the names of the retired judges to conduct an inquiry into the alleged scam in the apex state co-operative bank.
It may be recalled that the opposition, during the monsoon session of the state legislative assembly, earlier this year had alleged a scam in the tendering process pertaining to the accounts software of the Goa State Co-operative Bank Ltd. They had also observed that this could result in lack of security to banking transactions. The government in turn had assured of an investigation in the matter.