The Tamil Nadu government is planning to introduce a business facilitation Bill next month that will be backed by a legislation to put the state on the investment map again. The state has slipped from the 12th to the 18th spot this year in ease of doing business rankings, released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) last week.

The state government said of the 50 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during the 2015 Global Investors Meet, 43 projects were under various stages of implementation. But, of the committed Rs 1 lakh crore, only Rs 30,000 crore had been realised. During the meet, Tamil Nadu had signed 98 MoUs worth about Rs 2.42 lakh crore.

Speaking at the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 107th annual general meeting, Shilpa Prabhakar Satish, executive vice-chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau, said of the total 98 MoUs signed, around 50 worth — Rs 1 lakh crore — come under industry department. Of these, 43 projects, worth about Rs 30,000 crore, were under implementation. And, 10 projects were being inaugurated while foundation stones of seven had been laid. She said seven projects hadn’t started due to internal issues and the government was trying to start them soon. Some projects related to energy and petroleum projects, which are high-ticket investments, had not taken off because of the drop in pricing, and companies had internal and financial issues, she said.

By next month, the state will be passing an ordinance to implement the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Bill to ensure ease of doing business in the state. The Bill had been drafted by the Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau with the help of Deloitte and suggestions had been sought from the industry, she said. A single-window portal, which will be integrated with 32 services of seven to eight departments, was ready and would undergo a soft launch in two to three days. The Act would have clear timelines for approval.

According to reports, Tamil Nadu’s share in total foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped drastically to 2.9% or $1.3 billion of the total $44-billion FDI during CY16 — the lowest in three years, says Kotak Institutional Equities reports. This figure pales in comparison to the $3.92 billion (11.2%) and $5.7 billion (13.1%) of FDI received by the state in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

The report quoted the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for FDI inflows into India and the DIPP, Ministry of commerce, the report analysed the trend of FDI inflow, including the trend in key states.

Source: Business Standard