Industrialists are normally averse to talk about politics in public for fear of upsetting those in authority. But even they are attributing the Government’s failure to take any credible steps since the Global Investors Meet ended in June to the “prolonged political uncertainty” in the State.
Almost a month since the investors meet ended there is still no announcement by the Government about the projects that were proposed by investors. The value of projects for which memorandums of understanding, Expressions of Interest and Registrations of Interest (RoI) were signed at the investors meet amounted to more than Rs. 8 lakh crore.
Asked about the delay, the head of an industry body said, “Who will announce this when the Industries Minister (Murugesh R. Nirani) himself has resigned from office?”
Speaking to The Hindu , M. Lakshminarayan, president, Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the role of industry bodies is “not to challenge the Government on what it claims to have received as commitments from investors.”
“Nor do we want to audit the Government’s claims,” he added. He, however, said that the prolonged political uncertainty has occupied a significant proportion of the political leadership’s attention span in the last year, since B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned as Chief Minister.
Mr. Lakshminarayan dismissed the belief in some quarters that an “efficient” bureaucracy in Karnataka more than makes up for the quality of political leadership. “Even the bureaucracy needs to know what to do, for which it turns to political authority,” he said. “The bureaucracy may be very good, but policy needs to be set by politicians,” he remarked.
K. Shiva Shanmugam, president, Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), says that investors would “get the wrong signals” if the political uncertainty is not ended quickly. He also criticised the Government for its failure to keep its promise at the investors meet that it would establish a mechanism to review the progress of projects. Mr. Shanmugam also expressed the concern about the Government’s inaction in tackling the impact of the delayed onset of monsoon. “Politicians have the time to fly back and forth to Delhi to fight for their offices, but they have no time to go there and plead with the Union Government for funds,” he said.
J. Crasta, co-chairman, Southern Regional Council, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, infrastructure development and land allotment for industries are some of the “big issues” that remain unsettled because of the political uncertainty.
