Hyderabad: Demonetisation has affected the Telangana state government’s plans to hold its first-ever global investors meet in the city to attract investments from across the world. The government had earlier decided to hold the meet between January and March.
Following demonetisation, and the uncertainty over its impact on the state’s revenues, the industries department recommended that the time was not ripe to hold the meet. The government is keenly watching the outcome of the global investors meet to be held in Gujarat from January 10 before taking a call.
Industries minister K.T. Rama Rao said, “There is no going back on holding global investors meet in Hyderabad. The question is on the timing. We had planned it for the first quarter in 2017 between January and March. However, the sudden developments following demonetisation has changed the situation. Trade and industry bodies are assessing the implications and there is clarity on when normalcy would return.”
Industry officials said the Gujarat investors meet, the first after demonetisation, would serve as a research platform for all states to check how companies, global and Indian, were viewing demonetisation in terms of impact on the economy.
The state government is planning to send a team of officials to Gujarat to take part in the event.
“Telangana state leads in the IT and services sector, thanks to Hyderabad. This time, we want to tap into investments in the manufacturing sector, in which the state is lagging behind. This is not due to government policies but due to geographical disadvantages like the state not having a port,” said an official of the industries department.
He said with the Centre agreeing to set up dry ports in the state, mostly surrounding Hyderabad, this issue had been resolved. “We are confident of securing big investments in the manufacturing sector when the global investors meet is held,” he said.
Last meet held during Telangana agitation
The last global investors meet was held in Hyderabad in January 2012 when the Telangana statehood agitation was at its peak. The then state government signed MoUs for investments worth over Rs 6 lakh crore at the summit, but less than half was realised due to political instability.
After bifurcation, political stability has assuaged the concerns of investors. This was reflected in the state topping the Ease of Doing Business rankings released by Centre. The TS government now wants to tap this ranking and opportunties to attract global investments by showcasing its self-certification industrial approval policy TS-iPASS.
Though the Telangana government was successful in attracting big investments within 15 months of the launch of TS-iPASS, the investments from global companies are not on expected lines. The government feels that this deficiency could be overcome once the global investors meet is held and TS-iPASS is showcased effectively to global companies.
