By Rudi Warjri
Last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Guwahati to inaugurate the Advantage Assam Summit. The Summit was an event to project Assam as the destination for investment. A fortnight earlier, the Emir(Ruler) of Qatar visited India. Ignoring protocol, Modi went to the airport to receive the Emir. Among the outcomes of the Emir’s visit was a commitment to invest $ 10 billion dollars in India. While Meghalaya is thirstily aiming to achieve a $ 10 billion economy, Qatar which is about half the size of Meghalaya and contains among the highest natural gas deposits in the world. 61 Ambassadors of foreign diplomatic missions based in Delhi also attended the Advantage Assam Summit illustrating the international importance of the summit .
The Prime Minister announced that the Government of India will invest Rs 1.22 lakh crore in renewable energy , infrastructure, agriculture and tourism. The aim is to convert Assam into a regional economic hub that will also connect with the neighbouring countries. The expectation is to produce 50, 000 jobs directly. The spin-off will also lead to growth of SMEs. Before the Summit the Assam Chief Minister had traveled to several countries that included Japan and Singapore. There were also road shows in Mumbai and Delhi . A total of almost 5 lakh crore investment commitment has been achieved by the Advantage Assam Summit .
The slogan at the Summit was 3 T’s – Tea, Tourism and Trade and the 3 “I’s” Infrastructure , Investment and Industry. Investment announcements at the Summit by several private sector corporates and industrialists included Vedanta Rs 50,000 Cr, Ambani Rs 50,000 Cr, Adani Rs 50,000, JSW will invest in cement manufacturing, renewable and thermal energy. Tata Power is investing Rs 85,000 Cr and Tata Electronics Rs 30, 000 Cr on a semiconductor plant at Jagi Road. It will produce 48 million chips daily and 27, 000 jobs . These chips will be used in cars , mobiles , etc manufactured in India.
International MoUs were signed with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Health and Agriculture; Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore for nursing talent ; ASEAN One Co. Ltd Japan for Skills Training Institute; Spice Lemon for Japanese language .
The Ministry for the Development of Northeast (MDoNER) will invest Rs 4,000 Cr in Telecom infrastructure and on a 5G Lab at Guwahati University. Besides, Guwahati railway station will become a multi-storied IT Hub. Rs 80,000 Cr in infrastructure will be invested that include key projects – a tunnel under the Brahmaputra river; elevated corridor at Kaziranga National Park and a Guwahati Ring Road besides Rs 4800 Cr to modernize Assam Inland Waterways.
At the district level, MoUs of Rs 586 Cr were signed to invest in the several sectors of MSMEs. MoUs amounting to Rs 3,150 Cr were signed in the Health sector. Development of ‘ Tiger towns’ for economic and ecological well being. Across the State MoUs signed for Rs 5 to 50 Crs .
Discussions also took place in the field of Space and Geospatial industry which represent the “The skies of tomorrow.” Apart from discussions on Aerospace and Defense manufacturing, climate smart development also figured because the rainfall in other Northeastern States has a direct impact on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries .
The challenge now for Assam is the implementation . Also how to make the growth as inclusive as possible and also there should be no marginalization of the local indigenous communities .
BJP ruled States in the Northeast like Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are also expected to have an investment summit in the near future. It is now very clear that the BJP Government at the centre and in Assam are pulling all the stops to transform Assam into an exemplary economic model not only for the Northeast but for the whole of India. Regardless of the underlying political agenda or message, the question now is what do non-BJP ruled states like Meghalaya and other states in the Northeast do ?
Why does Meghalaya need external Investment ?
Sometime ago two women entrepreneurs from Meghalaya a mother-daughter appeared before Shark Tank India seeking Rs 20 lakh loan with 12% equity . Iaishah Rymbai and Lebaini Rymbai wanted to expand their enterprise “Eri Weave” weaving traditional silk wear. Iaishah Rymbai was incubated by PRIME (Promotion and Incubation of Market Driven Enterprises ) launched in 2019 by the Government of Meghalaya. These two enterprising ladies laudably traveled all the way to Mumbai and appeared on Television to look for investment. Why ? Because Meghalaya couldn’t provide them the capital.
Five lakh crore rupees is about US dollars 65 billion which is tantamount to building an economic volcano in Assam which can erupt and spew economic lava, gases and rocks impacting neighbouring States and countries in a variety of foreseen, unforeseen and unintended ways .
No external investment for Meghalaya means no job creation. Unemployment means unrest affecting social life and harmony that can impact on tourism and other sectors . Besides, Meghalaya is not a revenue generating state. 80 % of its financial resources come from the central Government. The only resource is from external borrowings. Meghalaya does not have even the resources to adequately finance the existing public utilities like MeECL to ensure uninterrupted supply of power, leave alone providing uninterrupted power to investment establishments.
Hence the following suggestions for resource mobilisation:
i)The situation demands that political parties rise above just local issues alone and beyond Khanapara or what the central Government in Delhi ought to do or listen to. The volume and magnitude of the economic investment in Assam is like what Ayn Rand said, “you can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of reality.” Lack of foresight may actually hurt the very fundamental premise of protecting the majority tribal generation in the future. Forget populist, myopic political mileage and ideological predilections for once . Be pragmatic like Deng Zhao Ping of China. Shakespeare wrote, “There is a tide in the affairs of men/ Which taken at the floods, leads on to fortune/ Omitted , all the voyages of their life/ Is bound in shallows and miseries”.
ii) Specifically , there’s a need for an all political party discussion on ‘The Meghalaya State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Act 2024(MSIPFA) and the ‘Land Bank’ for investment proposal. The fears about the Land Bank has to be addressed. Some quarters have rightly opposed this because most of the so-called community land and private land in Meghalaya have been swallowed manipulatively by high level or well connected ‘indigenous land sharks’ .
iii) A declaration by the Meghalaya Government that no Ministers , politicians and bureaucrats and their relatives will benefit from the land bank transactions. This would allay some of the fears.
iv)The land can only be on lease, along the lines of land leased to the cement plants in Jaintia Hills. This is also an opportune time to bring in the cadastral survey and affirm the property rights further empowering the tribal population. Mizoram has already done it.
v)No politicians or their relatives can become shareholders, directors or part of the management of the companies set up. Those in Government from ministers to bureaucrats should give an undertaking in this regard.
vi) All safeguards should be underlined with regard to the environment and land degradation .
(The writer is a retired diplomat and has been involved in promoting investment into India and from India).