India offers land to investors moving out of China
DHARAMSALA, 6 May: India is developing a land pool nearly double the size of Luxembourg to lure businesses moving out of China, media reports said citing sources familiar with the development.
India has reportedly earmarked 461,589 hectares of land across the country for the purpose which includes 115,131 hectares of existing industrial land in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The land has been the biggest deterrent for companies looking to invest in India, but it can change as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have been working with states to change that as investors seek to reduce reliance on China as a manufacturing base in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak and the resultant supply disruption, reported the WION.
The prime minister has chaired a meeting earlier on 30 April to discuss steps to fast-track strategies for wooing investors.
Modi’s administration is reported to have further hand-picked ten sectors — electrical, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electronics, heavy engineering, solar equipment, food processing, chemicals and textiles — as focus areas for promoting manufacturing.
It is understood that Invest India, the government’s investment agency, has so far received inquiries mainly from Japan, the US, South Korea and China.
Additionally, Prime Minister Modi has urged states to evolve their own programmes for bringing in foreign investments.
Providing land with power, water and road access may help attract new investments to an economy that was slowing even before the virus hit, and is now staring at a rare contraction as a nationwide lockdown hit consumption, the Bloomberg reported.
