PANAJI: The apathy of the government towards the state Investment Promotion Board (IPB) has resulted in making the Board inoperative, with the term of its existing board expiring and the government refraining from re-constituting the same. The Investment Promotion Board, which was constituted under the Goa Investment Policy 2014, by the erstwhile Laxmikant Parsekar government as a nodal authority for investments in Goa upwards of Rs 5 crore, presently has around 60 proposals pending before it, including projects linked to hospitality and industrial sectors.
The terms of six private members on the IPB had already expired in October 2016. The IPB was a non-executive, fully empowered, statutory entity and included nine members from the industry. The Chief Minister was the chairperson, while secretary for industries was its permanent member.
A highly placed government official expressed inability to cite the reason for delay on the part of the government to reconstitute the IPB, stating that the Board could be revived in the near future.
The Investment Promotion Board, during its tenure had given in-principle approvals to a total of 151 projects, claiming to garner collective investment to the tune of Rs 11,482.66 crore and creating employment potential through approximately 25,980 jobs for the locals.
The Council for Social Justice and Peace, a wing of the Church, had slammed the Parsekar government for setting up the Investment Promotion Board to “push projects in villages and towns by undermining the constitutional powers of the (local) self-governments.”
Interestingly, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, while making a speech during presentation of the state budget 2017-18, in the state legislative assembly had made no mention of the Investment Promotion Board, but had stated that in order to promote startups in information technology sector in Goa, his government would establish a Startup Promotion Board, during this financial year.
