Bhubaneswar: Despite a host of measures taken up by the Odisha government in the recent past to create an investment friendly atmosphere, the State has been ranked 14th among 21 States across the country, chosen on the ground of competitiveness for ‘ease of doing business.’
According to a study by the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) under the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, Odisha’s position is 14th while Maharashtra has emerged as the top performer in overall competitiveness.
The report said Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi are the top three States for overall competitiveness followed by Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, Punjab, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. States ranking at the bottom include Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The report published in national media said the study measures overall competitiveness, four environments, 11 sub-environments, and 75 indicators.
Business analysts opined that the State government should facilitate the industries with their core demands to create an investment friendly ambience.
“Only announcing Startup Policy or participating in the Make In India campaign will not yield results. The government should be pro-active for the industrial units and sort out their issues first,” industry expert Dillip Bisoi said.
The State government on the other hand has a different tale to tell.
“We have complied only 61 per cent of the criteria sought for the index preparation. Since we have time, we will send our feedback soon,” Odisha Industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra said.
The State government, besides participating in Make In India conference in Mumbai in 2014, had recently organised Odisha Investors’ Meet in Bengaluru to attract investors. The Bengaluru meet, as claimed by the Odisha government, has attracted about Rs 90,000 crore investment proposals with employment potential of 70,000.