The <keyword id="90047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Industrial-investment">industrial investment</keyword> in India has witnessed a sharp decline in the calendar year 2014. According to data released by Department of Industrial Policy &amp; Promotion (<keyword id="6391107" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="DIPP">DIPP</keyword>) by <keyword id="6355988" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Assocham">ASSOCHAM</keyword>, the industrial investment has dipped by 20% year-on-year as against the proposed industrial investments. 
	 
	“India received 1,421 industrial investment proposals worth Rs 362,805 crore in this calendar year till September which had declined significantly from 1,906 proposals worth Rs 451,643 crore in the corresponding period last year,” said DS Rawat, general secretary of ASSOCHAM. 
	 
	In terms of regions, Chattisgarh has the largest chunk of the investment pie with almost 45% of the total amount of the proposed investments. The state has received 24 investment proposals worth Rs 161,836 crore from Rs31, 067 crore thus registering year-on-year growth rate of over 420%. 
	 
	“It is followed by Maharashtra (8.9%), Gujarat (8.8%), Odisha (5.9%), Karnataka (5.4%) and Andhra Pradesh (5.1 %) are other leading states in terms of share. However, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat have registered significant decline in their share in total investment proposals,” noted Rawat. 
	 
	Other states that have recorded considerable growth in the proposed investments include Punjab (184%), Karnataka (166%), Himachal Pradesh (108%) and Assam (25%). 
	 
	Sectors such as services, construction development, telecommunications, computer software and hardware, drugs and pharmaceuticals, automobiles, chemicals (other than fertilizers), power, metallurgical industries, hotel and tourism attracted the highest percentage of foreign direct investment in 2014. 
	 “Considering the growing competition between emerging economies for foreign investments, <keyword id="44528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="FDI">FDI</keyword> is highly imperative for India considering that it has completely transformed the quality, productivity and production in sectors it has been allowed and can supplement domestic efforts significantly,” added Rawat. 
	 
	However, bureaucratic interference, restriction of FDI limit in certain sectors along with a complex tax structure has posed as a serious threat to India’s image as an investment destination. “Besides, bureaucratic delays and process vis-à-vis plethora of Governmental approvals and clearances involving various ministries must be fastened to increase the absorption of FDI in India. Government must recognize that good regulations and efficient processes are key catalysts for FDI as accessible and reliable information together with efficient and predictable actions by public institutions help create a business environment conducive to investment,” he suggested. 
	 
	Currently, the US, Singapore, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Mauritius, Cyprus, Germany, France and Switzerland are top investing countries in India.

Industrial Investment In India Declines In 2014

The week-long <keyword id="6354869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="make-in-India">Make in India</keyword> event here has secured investment commitments worth Rs 15.2 lakh crore, with host state Maharashtra alone accounting for Rs 8 lakh crore. 
 
Besides, it received investment enquiries worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore. 
 "The multi-sectoral Make in India Week has been a great success. We've managed to get investment commitments to the tune of over Rs 15.2 lakh crore from the event," DIPP Secretary <keyword id="6358887" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amitabh-Kant">Amitabh Kant</keyword> told reporters at the closing press meet at the MMRDA Grounds here today. 
 
He is hopeful that the summit will create a favourable environment for investors from across the world. 
 
Out of the total investment commitments, the host state made up for more than half, at Rs 8 lakh crore, Kant said, adding that Maharashtra could become the gateway for the rest of the country. 
 
Out of the total commitment pie, 30 per cent have come from foreign players. 
 
"We have already opened the economy across sectors to the world. We're now showcasing, connecting and collaborating for manufacturing in the country," Kant said, adding that the summit is not about manufacturing alone, but innovation and nurturing inventors. 
 Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> had on February 13 inaugurated the maiden Make in India Week at the MMRDA Grounds at BKC in Central Mumbai. 
 The jamboree, for which the Modi-led government has reportedly spent close to Rs 100 crore in marketing alone, is part of the government's push to create jobs by increasing the share of manufacturing to <keyword id="35050" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="gdp">GDP</keyword> to 25 per cent over the next decade, from the 16-17 per cent now. The domestic economy has for long been supported by the services sector, which alone contributes more than 60 per cent of GDP. 
 
 
The summit, despite a reasonably good participation from Corporate India and global companies, had its own share of shortcomings, with poor coordination among various agencies such as DIPP, PIB and industry lobby CII coming to the fore. 
 
On the very thin participation from north-eastern states, Kant said, "Every state has different core competency. I am from the Kerala cadre and I believe that Kerala is a great state for travel and tourism, but is not a great state for industrialization. 
 
He added: "My personal view is that north-eastern states need to be developed with sustainability and innovativeness. If you force too much of industrialisation in those areas, you will spoil the natural surroundings of the region. Let's not force every state to be Maharashtra or Gujarat... that will not be correct." 
 
However, it can be noted that most of the non-NDA states barring Karnataka, which is ruled by the main Opposition Congress, and Odisha ruled by the BJD, kept away from the summit. 
 
Over 2,500 international and 8,000 domestic companies are claimed to have participated in the week-long multi- sectoral industrial event, apart foreign government delegations from 68 countries and business teams from 72 nations. 
 
The opening ceremony was also attended by Prime Ministers of Sweden, Finland and Deputy Premier of Poland, besides other foreign ministers. 
 
Similarly, many were critical of the high food prices at the food courts and the high security, which didn't allow home-made foods.

PM Modi's 'Make in India Week' gets Rs 15.2 lakh crore investment commitments

In a bid to expand its connectivity, the Airport Authority of India (<keyword id="47439" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aai">AAI</keyword>) will be marketing 29 airports in the country to international airlines participating in <keyword id="2530577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Route-Development-Forum">World Route Development Forum</keyword> that is being held in Chicago between 20th and 23rd September. 
	 
	The airports that AAI plans to develop, in order to market among the international airlines, include both domestic and international airports. These airports include Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Leh, Srinagar, Varanasi (Banaras), Bhubaneswar, Gaya, Kolkata, Port Blair, Ranchi, Raipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Indore, Goa, Pune, Surat, Chennai, Coimbatore, Calicut, Madurai, Mangalore, Trivandrum, Trichy and Visakhapatnam. 
	 
	The apex body of airports has held one-on-one meetings with the carriers and has an exclusive stand at the forum. “The airport-specific brochures brought out by AAI on the occasion included salient features of the airports, catchment areas they belong to, aerodrome reference code, tourist attractions and aviation and tourism potential,” said the ministry in a statement. 
	 
	The ministry added that AAI plans to come up with no-frills airports to enhance air connectivity as well as facilitate availability of infrastructure in the sector, which will ensure smooth air operations across airports in the country. 
	 
	“Government of India is focusing and pushing for development of airport infrastructure in tier-III cities. AAI will have to play a key role in implementation and execution of no-frill airports in the country. As per the estimates, about 50 such airports are on the anvil. The five airports included in Phase-I are Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharsuguda in Odisha, Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka and Kishangarh in Rajasthan,” added the ministry. 
	 
	The apex body has been participating World Route Development Forum for the past six years. AAI has 125 airports which consist of 21 international airports domestic airports, 7 customs airports (4 civil enclaves) and 19 other civil enclaves. Among the international airports, AAI has 3 civil enclaves and 3 joint ventures. 
	 
	Currently, Indian airports, on the domestic front, handle nearly 122 million passengers while 47 million international passengers. The airports expected to handle 217 million domestic and 76 million international passengers by 2020.

AAI
to display 29 airports at World Route Development Forum

<keyword id="6355165" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Agriculture">Agriculture</keyword> is a very important sector of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Manufacturing-in-the-Indian-Economy/articleshow/48421005.cms">Indian economy</a>. It is because it provides employment to roughly half of India's workforce and contributes to 17% of India's GDP. Since independence, a lot of changes have been observed in the sector. 
	 
	<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/IndependenceDaySpl-From-then-to-now-heres-how-Tata-Group-penned-Indias-story-in-preindependence-era/articleshow/48456484.cms">Post-independence</a> India was dependent on imports of agricultural produce. But the years of drought in 1965 and 1966 led the government to focus on raising agricultural production by boosting the yield per hectare of crop. It is often termed as 'green revolution' that was focused on improvements in inputs leading to betterment of output. High yielding varieties, as well as better fertilizers and irrigation facilities and an able scientific research establishment, resulted in improvement in the yield of wheat in the early part of 1970's. When the productivity of wheat rose, rice was the second crop to undergo this kind of transformation. In the case of rice, tube wells played a critical role. Soon the revolution spread from the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to the eastern states of Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha and along the Indo-Gangetic plain. The benefits, however, were largely limited to one-third of the area that was irrigated. Post-1980's the focus shifted to oilseed, fruits and vegetables that have increased yields and production. The growth in agriculture was slow during the 1960's and 1970's hovering around 3-4% but increased to 5-6% during the 1980's. In the early 1990's it briefly even touched 6-7% but declined rapidly after that to 1-2% in the later part of 1990's and post-2000. 
	 
	Prominent aspects of the Indian agriculture include: 
	 
	First, the overwhelming dependence of agriculture on monsoons as rural infrastructure like irrigation is still absent in most parts of the country. Barely 35% of the total agricultural land is reliably irrigated. It has to do with the knee-jerk policy reactions to address challenges of the Indian agriculture. This has to start from understanding the irrigation needs of the country. At present the Indian farmer often has to depend on the mercy of rain gods. Understanding how rivers can be leveraged not just for agriculture but for goods' movement as well as tourism is essential for an overarching perspective on rural development. Also, an integrated view of river systems and irrigation should be developed for all the stakeholders to benefit. 
	 
	Second, there is still a feeling of inhibition to technology adoption as the results of failure can be catastrophic for individual farmers. It comes as a surprise even after knowing the benefits of better varieties that spurred green revolution. This is where the research community has to play an active role in guiding and learning from farmers their challenges and concerns. Development of agriculture policy must start with making the farmer the centerpiece of any policy action. With population increase, the small size of the landholdings has decreased further and it has led to problems pertaining to farm mechanization. India has a very large proportion of ‘marginal holdings’ below a hectare of land that poses serious problems with respect to mechanization. It explains why the tractors per capita in India are 16 per 1000 hectares as compared to 19 in the world and 27 in the US. From the land holding pattern, it is apparently clear that the kind of farming prevalent in India was and still is ‘subsistence’. 
	 
	Third, access to formal credit remains problematic even after having banks that are specifically dedicated to agricultural credit. It is true for small farmers who have to depend often on informal sources of credit, which can lead to debt traps and also farmer suicides in many cases. The best way forward is to have better insurance schemes and some behavioural interventions which make farmers aware of their decisions as well as make them feel financially secure and independent. Also, the initiative of farmers is often curbed when credit is not available for value addition activities. When venture finance is available for investment in technology startups why cannot there be venture finance for agricultural producers who want to do value addition for their agricultural produce? 
	 
	Finally, government procuring at Minimum Support Prices (MSP) at present can be beneficial to farmers however it also has a downside. The downside is that farmers cannot command the price they could in a free market as the market signal has already been decided by the government. Also in the name of food security farmers should not be restricted to sell to only Indian consumers and government. These issues aside, the government has done a terrible job in storing foodgrains in its godowns. Wastage has had various official and non-official estimates with all agreeing that the wastage is considerable. It calls for more competition in the storage of foodgrains segment. 
	 Over the next few years as structural changes continue within the <keyword id="6356076" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-economy">Indian economy</keyword>, the share of agriculture is expected to go down. However, the government should focus on some crucial areas like rural infrastructure, better access to credit, and enabling value addition by farmers that spur the agricultural economy to better growth rates than are being presently witnessed. 
	 
	(The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India. Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for Competitiveness &amp; Editor of Thinkers. The views expressed are personal. Amit can be reached at <a href="mailto:amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in">amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in</a> and tweets @kautiliya)

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Industrial Investment In India Declines In 2014

Purba Das

PM Modi's 'Make in India Week' gets Rs 15.2 lakh crore investment commitments

BI India Bureau

AAI to display 29 airports at World Route Development Forum

Purba Das

Here’s why we need to focus on agriculture in India!

Amit Kapoor