Ajay Shankar advises to make land owners partners in Industrialization

Land acquisition is not the only route to industrialization: A lot of creative effort is required, according to Mr Ajay Shankar, Chairman, Expert Committee on Ease of Doing Business in India, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

“Make land owners partners, make them real stakeholders, give them top-notch skill training so that they become real beneficiaries,” said Mr Shankar at the Conference on Building East, Driving Development held coinciding with the Annual Regional Meeting of CII Eastern Region here today.

Fortunately, in recent times, the country has achieved a greater consensus that we need for investments from private players and that private players will create greater number jobs, he said.

However, he added that a lot depends on what and how local entrepreneurs and enterprises feel. “Unless they are comfortable and feel good, industry will not really take off. In other words, it is the local enterprises which will drive investments,” he said.

Mr Shankar also suggested that states like Bihar and Bengal where the volume of fertile land is significantly high need to focus on agro-based industries, organic food, food processing while the other three states in the region – Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh – where mineral resources are abundant and tribal population is high are waiting to take off.

“All industries need to do is channelize their CSR funds to skill development training for tribal youths to make them employable. In this way, CSR will go a long way in building trusts and attracting investments. Don’t wait for children to drop out and then give then skill training. Catch them early and train them in various trades,” Mr Shankar said.

Mr Sumit Dutt Majumder, former Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), said Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one of the answers to building top-class infrastructure. If implemented, GST will generate the extra revenue needed to rev up infrastructure which investors are looking at, he observed.

“It will provide the much needed capital for the development of infrastructure which in turn will contribute to the overall development of the country. GST being a destination based tax will help to bring in larger amount of money in the individual state where products are being consumed,” Mr Dutt Majumder said, adding all states will be the beneficiaries.

“Since GST is technology-driven, it will bring compliance cost down. If it is a clean transaction, you will not see the face of a taxman,” he said, adding that he is optimistic that GST will be operational from 1 April 2017.

Mr Sumit Mazumder, President, CII, and CMD, TIL Ltd, also made a loud call for early implementation of GST saying it will be a game-changer in raising the share of manufacturing, fuelling inclusive growth and aligning India with global economies. “All Eastern states need to come together in support of this important piece of legislation,” he said.

According to him, if India has to emerge as a global leader, eastern States must play a greater role. “The region is a gifted geography. It is home to abundant mineral deposits, boasts an excellent rail-road-port connectivity and has a long coast line. It also has a thriving service sector and highly educated and skilled workforce. Its proximity with the eastern states and the North-Eastern and also with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, South East and Pacific countries makes the region an attractive destination. The economies with similar advantages such as Australia, Singapore and Gujarat have developed into economic powers,” the CII President explained.

RAdm A K Verma (Retd), Chairman, CII Eastern Region & CMD, GRSE Ltd, felt that a lot greater focus needs to be laid on manufacturing to reduce the burden on agriculture. “Not only will that create more jobs, it will also build a large production and consumption base,” he said.

RAdm Verma (Retd) also cited the latest DIPP-World Bank Report where four states from the region were ranked among the top eleven in ease of doing business. “This shows the pace with which the eastern states are coming up,” he said.

Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said, with rich natural resources, human talent and connectivity as well as proactive governments, the region has all the potential to be the growth engine of the nation. In his view, with the next generation of reforms expected to be driven by the states, it is imperative that the states plan and act accordingly.

He said CII has transformed more than 400 ITI s in a PPP format with the help of its members. “And going forward, we are working with the government to help create an apprenticeship system, which furthers the creation of skilled workforce. CII has launched the ZED – or the Zero Defect, Zero Effect movement and we believe this movement would be of great value to the manufacturing sector in the east, he added.

Mr T V Narendran, Deputy Chairman, CII Eastern Region & Managing Director, Tata Steel Ltd, called for concentration of ideas, energy and efforts. The focus needs to be laid firmly on ways to add momentum to the growth engine, he said, adding that it is extremely important that all stakeholders – the government, industry and society – come together, think together and work together. “We need to focus on building synergy to promote Eastern India en bloc to showcase opportunities as well strengthen linkages in the region,” Mr Narendran said.

A CII-PwC report titled Technology-enabled Manufacturing – Growth Prospects for Eastern India and the CII CSR Compendium were unveiled during the inaugural session.