Food for Thought: ‘Advantage Assam’ and the Abstract Investments

When it comes to investment in Assam, the powers-be in Dispur would do well to appreciate the exhortation “Show me the money!”, popularized by the 1996 Tom Cruise starrer Jerry Maguire. There was much hoopla with the ‘Advantage Assam’ meet last year when the likes of Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata had landed in Guwahati. The State government had then announced with great fanfare that investment proposals worth Rs 79,000 crore had been received and 207 MoUs signed. One year later, it transpires that not a single Letter of Intent (LoI) has been finalized by any prospective investor. This means that nothing concrete has materialized on the ground in terms of setting up industries, belying all the fond hopes generated. The investment made so far and additional proposals received for the State total barely Rs 8,000 crore, just one-tenth of the amount projected last year. Admitting as much in the Assembly, the Industry Minister has argued that holding such a jamboree was necessary, considering the “absence of industrial environment” in the State. So what made our Ministers and babus think that jetting off to metros outside and holding road shows would be enough to build up such an ‘environment’? Such efforts fool none, least of all canny, hard-boiled industrialists with eyes firmly only on maximizing profit. Putting in place the infrastructure needed for industry is a pre-requisite, but where is it? ‘Ease of doing business’ is still a slogan, while extortion culture remains strong. It would pay dividends to assiduously build up an industrial mindset at the grassroots and nurture entrepreneurial talent locally, rather than laying out the red carpet and waiting futilely for investors from outside. But that would require foresight, doing the groundwork and staying the course, and above all, the commitment to spend scarce public money wisely. Considering how local industries are being allowed to die one after the other, these are the basic qualities the powers-be here lack. And so Dispur dreams of importing the Gujarat model to our inhospitable environs!