Only 25 per cent of GIM-I projects became a reality: Official

GIM is a single window investment meeting of the state government to attract largescale investments. The first edition of GIM was held on September 9 and 10, 2015, and in the GIM 98 projects worth Rs 2.42 lakh crore were signed.

Though the state government aimed at investment to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore, projected investments exceeded well above the target and encouraged by the huge promises, the state government had decided to conduct second edition of GIM on January 23 and 24, next year.

However, in the first edition not all the 98 projects were implemented. According to government sources, only 64 projects were implemented. A closer look at the data revealed that the total value of the 64 projects was just Rs 62,000 crore, which is just 25 percentage of the total projects signed. “Major projects signed by non-renewable energy companies were not implemented and it was the reason for the lower percentage,” said Arun Roy, Special Officer, GIM.

“However, 25 percentage is still a better result when compared to other states. We continue to focus on our core sectors such as automobile, textile, pharmaceutical, aerospace, renewable energy, IT and food processing for better rate of investment,” Roy told DT Next.

Industry bodies in the state, however, claimed that a lot more could have been accomplished with a little more preparation. The head of a prominent industries body, on condition of anonymity, said that 25 percentage was definitely on the lower side and the government should have done more homework for better results. S Raghavan, Secretary, Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told DTNext that while initially there was apprehension among the industrial bodies in the state after the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in the past six to eight months the situation improved and there is a positive atmosphere prevailing in the state. 

“Though 25 percentage investment is on the lower side the industry is positive that more investments would pour in”, said Raghavan. Because of the low rate of investment government had not fixed any target for the second edition of GIM. “Let us be realistic in the investments. The industry knows the exact scenario of investments in the state and numbers are not a bother,” Roy added.

He also pointed out that Tamil Nadu has been ranked second in investment potential in the country by National Council of Applied Economic Research and it is positive sign to attract investment. “Recently, too CEAT tyres signed an agreement worth Rs 4,000 crore in the state which again shows that a positive investment climate prevails in the state,” Roy said.

The official also pointed out that nine countries participated in GIM-I and in the second edition the state government is trying to get more countries in the loop. “The state government is trying to fix at least 10 countries as partner countries for GIM-II. Already, South Korea and Japan have agreed to be partner countries for the meet,” Roy concluded.