‘Sixty p.c. of IT investments in State are non-starters’

Projects have grown over 50 p.c. in five years, says report

Karnataka accounts for a little over a fourth of IT investments across the country and investments here have clocked a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 50 per cent over the five year period ended 2013, according to a report by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

The figure and the lead status notwithstanding, the report also notes that around 60 per cent of the total outstanding IT investments in the State have been branded “non-starters”. This means that out of the Rs. 65,000 crore in total outstanding investments as of December 2013, a substantial Rs. 39,000 crore did not take off. These projects remain in limbo, even as investments continued to grow — over five years, total outstanding investments attracted by the State have jumped to Rs. 65,000 crore from Rs. 43,300 crore.

At 27 per cent, Karnataka finishes ahead of Gujarat, which is a good 10 per cent behind Karnataka at Rs. 39,690 crore . Kerala (12 per cent), Odisha (8 per cent), Tamil Nadu (7 per cent), Haryana (6 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (6 per cent), West Bengal (5 per cent), Maharashtra (4 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (3 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (2 per cent) are other States with significant share in total outstanding investments attracted by government, private (both domestic and foreign) sources in the IT sector.

Karnataka is not the worst off in terms of poor implementation with Madhya Pradesh having about 98 per cent of investments in the IT sector in limbo followed by Maharashtra (90 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (89 per cent), Haryana (89 per cent) and Kerala (88 per cent), the release added. Meanwhile, Punjab has witnessed highest negative growth of over 39 per cent in inflow of investments in the IT sector, which contributes about eight per cent of India’s gross domestic product and employs about 30 lakh professionals directly, the report noted.