Even till a decade ago, one could not have associated ‘industrialisation’ with the eastern States of Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. It is still not the buzzword in the region, but there seems to be an increasing focus on drawing investments for industrial development.

While these States are endowed with abundant mineral resources, it is the lack of adequate infrastructure — mainly roads and power — that has been a major roadblock to industrialisation. These inadequacies are now being addressed to woo investors from within the country and overseas. With a clear focus on sustainable development, these States are coming up with policy initiatives, not just to boost investments in the manufacturing sector, but are also actively promoting entrepreneurship by encouraging start-ups for job creation.

Odisha – leveraging its strength

According to the Odisha Economic Survey 2017-18, the State’s real growth rate averaged around 7.02 per cent in the last six years, as against the national average of 6.8 per cent. In 2016-17, Odisha registered a double-digit real growth rate of 10.4 per cent.

The State government has also launched ‘Odisha Industrial Development Plan: Vision 2025’ with focussed attention on five sectors that aim to attract investments of ₹2.5-lakh crore and generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for 30 lakh people. The establishment of four investment regions in industrial clusters at Kalinganagar (National Investment & Manufacturing Zone), Paradip (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region), Dhamra (Port Based Manufacturing Zone) and Bhubaneswar (Information Technology Investment Region); the launch of the ‘Make in Odisha’ conclave – a biennial business event — in 2016; and the creation of ‘Single Window Investor Facilitation Portal’, seem to have yielded results.

As of March 2017, the industrialisation process in Odisha led to the setting up of 252 large and medium industries in 22 districts with a total investment of ₹92,788 crore and employment of 1.18 lakh people, as per the Odisha Economic Survey. The State government envisions a massive expansion of MSMEs in the near future. The immensely successful ‘Make in Odisha’ conclave in 2016 has paved the way for the second edition of the event at Bhubaneswar during November 11-15, 2018.

Bengal means business

According to the West Bengal government’s Economic Review 2018-19, between 2015-16 and 2017-18, the annual growth rate (at constant prices) of the State GDP increased from 5.8 per cent to 11.4 per cent.

At its recent investment summit — the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) — the State secured investment commitments of over ₹2.19-crore crore. The State had drawn investment commitments of ₹2.35-lakh crore in 2017, and nearly 50 per cent of the commitments were under way, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said.

At previous BGBS summits, West Bengal had drawn investment commitments of over ₹2.5-lakh crore (in 2016), and ₹2.43-lakh crore (in 2015).

State Finance, Commerce and Industries Minister Amit Mitra said that despite the gross capital formation in the country being abysmally low, Bengal had done well to draw investments.

This year’s edition of the investors’ meet saw manufacturing and infrastructure emerge top draw. Nearly 72 per cent of the commitments, or ₹1.56-lakh crore, came from these two sectors. This includes a ₹12,000-crore commitment by the State government towards infrastructure development.

MSMEs followed with ₹53,000 crore, or 24 per cent of the total investment commitment. Hospitality and tourism; IT and ITeS; health, education, and skill development were the other preferred sectors.

A variety of MoUs relating to technology transfer, academic collaborations and skill development were also signed.

Bihar: breaking the stereotype

Looking to shed its image, Bihar is progressively adopting practices to create an investor-friendly environment in the State. These include the implementation of the ‘Udyog Samwad’ portal for grievance redressal; effective implementation of single-window system and development of an online inspection system among others. Supported by these measures, the State envisages an annual industrial development growth rate of 15 per cent.

In 2016, the Bihar government formulated the Industrial Investment Promotion Policy to focus on development of infrastructure, prioritising core sectors with emphasis on advanced technology and skill development, and to ensure uniform extension of investment benefits to all areas of the State.

Acknowledging that growth cannot happen in the absence of adequate roads, the State government has been working towards expanding the network of road and bridges. Since availability of land is a key criterion for industrial development, the government has, over the last few years, sanctioned over ₹1,650 crore to the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) for land acquisition to ensure rapid creation of the land bank and industrial areas.

The State has also been laying emphasis on developing the MSME sector. It is also in the process of setting up specialised clusters for development of leather, small machinery, plastics, garments, jute and textiles, and food processing to boost the manufacturing sector and encourage MSME entrepreneurs.

Jharkhand – catching up fast

The State held its maiden investor summit — Momentum Jharkhand: Global Investors Summit — in 2017 and secured investment commitments for over ₹3-lakh crore, aims to establish a ‘favourable, innovative and globally competitive business climate’.

As per information available in the ‘Jharkhand Vision and Action Plan 2021’, the State intends to focus on improving infrastructure, expand sustainable manufacturing, harness the potential of rural industrialisation and create employment opportunities across sectors.

As of June 2017, the State had attracted investments worth $104.12 million, government data said.

Real estate, mining and construction were among the major contributors to economic growth of the State. The New Industrial & Investment Promotion Policy-2016 was formulated to focus on captive power plants and IT sector, said a report put out by India Brand Equity Foundation in April 2018.

The State government has identified 56 clusters, including refractory, cement, bell metal, steel processing, hard coke, and forging & hand tool manufacturing among others. It is also looking to set up an MSME start-up ecosystem in Ranchi and East Singhbum to foster growth.

Despite the availability of resources, the eastern States have typically been ‘backward’ in industrial development, forcing a large number of people to migrate to the western and northern parts of the country in search of jobs. However, the BJP-led government at the Centre has been asking these States to rise and realise their potential.

The development of the eastern States, particularly that of West Bengal and Jharkhand, which act as gateways to country’s north-eastern region, and also the South-east Asian countries, is critical to ensure the success of India’s ‘Act East Policy’.

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