Infrastructure may dominate Goa Assembly polls

Goa industry doesn't want any sops from the state government. Manguirish Pai-Raikar, vice president of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI), said, "We just wish that the state government provides better infrastructure and leave us alone."

Goa, which has a population of barely 13 lakh and an assembly of 40 MLAs is scheduled to go to the polls in June. As usual, the political parties are promising the moon to voters.

Against this backdrop, Business Standard attempted to collate a wishlist of the industry from the new government which will come to power.

Goa is best known for its tourism industry but with the SEZs and IT parks, a new kind of employment will be generated, and there will definitely be an influx of people from other parts of the country and Goa?s infrastructure is already overstretched and it will collapse under the weight of the new migrants, observed Pai-Raikar.

So we wish that the state government immediately undertake the programme to augment the existing water supply and sewerage system and build a new one, he said.

The tourism industry is the bread and butter of Goa. Over 20 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) comes from this sector. Presently there around 35,000 rooms available in Goa and there is a shortage of nearly 15,000.

This shortage has prompted many countries to put out advisories cautioning against visiting Goa during the peak tourist season like Christmas and Carnival without ensuring proper reservations like Christmas or Carnival. This has dented Goa's image as a tourist heaven.

The new regional plan is supposed to pave the way for creating additional room capacity but popular opinion was against it and the state government decided to scrap it. We wish that whichever government comes to power, it should remove the unwanted elements opposed by the people as quickly as possible and implement the plan, he urged.

Another major infrastructure problem is the absence of an international airport, the airport project at Mopa has been stalled by vested interests. With over 1.5 lakh tourists visiting the state every year, there is no doubt that the state needs a civilian international airport. What we have now is a makeshift civilian airport which operates from the naval airbase at Dabolim.

Because of this there are restrictions on flights, not enough space is available for landing and parking of aircraft. The Singapore Airlines and some other international Airlines wanted to start scheduled flights to Goa but due to these constraints they have given up on their plans.

Presently, the chartered aircraft which come from abroad are sent to Belgaum airport in Karnataka for parking, Pai-Raikar pointed out.

Last, but not the least is the issue of power. Presently, the power situation is just about OK, but with four SEZs and two IT parks being planned, and a shortfall is going to be created in this sector too.

So either the state government should take the initiative to build new power plants through state power utility or encourage private players to come and set up their plants, he demanded.