Rajasthan resurgent summit starts today amid challenges

For the past year, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has been preparing for the two-day Resurgent Rajasthan Partnership Summit, starting on Thursday. In the run-up to the event, Raje held road shows, some of them abroad. She also pushed a number of reforms to create a favourable environment for industry in the state.

At the summit, Raje's challenges are twofold. First, she needs to convert the draft of memorandum of associations (MoUs) her government has signed, or is in the process of signing. Although the state government is yet to release the official figures, it is estimated that proposals worth Rs 3 lakh crore has already been signed in the past year. Valuation-wise, the largest MoUs were in solar energy, mining, and petroleum sectors.

However, given the record of the first Rajasthan resurgent summit in 2007, which was held during Raje's previous term, it would be interesting to see how many proposals actually take off this time. In 2007, investment proposals amounting to Rs 1,62,607 crore across 357 projects were signed. However, till date only investments worth Rs 39,000 crore have materialised or are in the process of taking shape. Raje's record in the past two years has not been impressive either. Considering the past five years' figures, the state received more investments or projects during the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government than the Raje government, which came to power in December 2013.

For instance, around 60 companies invested or set up projects worth Rs 3,300 crore in 2011 and an equal number of companies invested Rs 2,640 crore in 2012. In 2013, only 45 companies came forward to invest in the state, but the amount remained the same as in 2012. In 2014, there were around 100 companies but the investment dropped to Rs 1,480 crore. It means in 2014, the investments by the companies ranged between Rs 1 crore and Rs 106 crore. Most investments were under Rs 10 crore. Investments into the small and medium enterprises sector and employment numbers declined in 2014-15 over 2013-14.

This year, Raje is expected to exhort industry leaders attending the summit to increase investment in the state. Among those expected to attend this year's summit are Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry; Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani; Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra; Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani; Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej; Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla; Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal; and DCM Shriram's chairman and senior managing director Ajay Shriram.

The major thrust of summit will be on developing smart cities, 'Make in India: Skilling Rajasthan', solar energy, healthcare delivery, tourism and mining sectors. Representatives from Singapore and Japan are also expected to be present.

Raje's second challenge is political. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence from the event has already raised questions within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about the troubled relations between Modi and Raje, who till recently was embroiled in ethical issues over her relations with former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi. There was a chorus for her resignation, but she managed to successfully convince her political seniors.

The state government has, however, not given any reason for the absence of the PM's visit, who in the past had attended similar events in other BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
REFORMS UNDERTAKEN IN THE LAST ONE YEAR

EDUCATION

• Planning to amend the Right to Education Act
• Opening PPP in schools education

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

• Rajasthan Mission on Livelihood expanded to include 19 sectors ranging from garment, marketing, retail, beauty and culture
• Of the 145 govt industrial training institutes, 105 have linkages with industry
• To train 1.5 mn youth in 5 years
• Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Dept created

HEALTH

• Bhamashah Swasththya Bima Yojana to help 4.5 crore citizens get free treatment for 1,718 ailments
• Citizen can avail insurance benefits betweenRs 30,000 and Rs 300,000
• PPP has been opened in government hospitals and diagnostic centres

GENDER EQUALITY

• 1. 50 % reservation for women in panchayat elections

SMART CITIES AND HIGHWAYS

• Plans to build 20,000 km of state highways via PPP

MINERALS

• Announced news Rajasthan Mineral Policy, 2015
• 138 major mineral mining leases, 15,136 minor mineral mining leases, 74 prospecting licences and 18,249 quarry licences

START UP

• Announced new Rajasthan Start-Up Policy 2015
• 50 incubators/incubator-like organisations to be established
• 500 innovative start-ups to be supported and incubated

GOVERNANCE AND EASE OF BUSINESS

• Amended the archaic Factories Act, the Industrial
  

Disputes Act, the Apprenticeship Act and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act.

Set up online labour department management system to enable registration under the Shops and Establishment Act, labour law compliances, registration and renewal of licences, etc

Introduction of self-certification and only one labour inspection in a year by the Labour Department

All clearances and approvals of incentives under the
Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme 2014 digitised under single window clearance mechanism

Online system for payment, filing returns through the commercial tax dept website