Pro-active approach helps Gujarat execute projects faster

Narendera Modi may not be formally nominated as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, but his open challenge to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for competition on development, is not mere politics, but has roots in how his government deals various projects in the state.

Experts and economists have also acknowledged the efficiency of bureaucracy in Gujarat, and accredited their pro-activeness for higher completion rate of projects. The state administration have also efficiently handled project that have not materialised, by passing on the land allotted to other project proponents.  

Sample this: last five years saw a number of projects being either commissioned or under various stages of development. Some of these include car plants of Tata Motors, Ford India and Maruti Suzuki as well as Teva-P&G joint venture plant for OTC products, Abbott India's nutraceuticals manufacturing plant, Nestle India's FMCG products facility and Colgate-Palmolive oral care products project to name a few.

Renowned economist, academician and former member of Planning Commission Y K Alagh said Gujarat has had a good record of completing projects, especially during the last five year.

"Our (Gujarat) bureaucracy has always facilitated completion. Gujarat is outcome oriented. Most of our power projects have been completed in record time. Now that we are putting in emphasis on education and health infrastructure, things will improve there too. We need world-class social infrastructure," said Alagh.  

"Project execution in Gujarat has always been fast and hassle-free thanks to the bureaucracy. Even during the license Raj the bureaucrats used to get licenses and give it to businessmen for setting up  industries. Traditionally the administration in Gujarat has always been business friendly and hence the project execution has been smooth," said former professor Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Ghanshyam Shah.

Bureaucrats in the Modi administration say that they have a clear mandate from the Chief Ministers' Office (CMO) to address issues related to project execution in a speedy manner. In case of 'big projects' the administration is even more pro-active.

"When a company signs a state support agreement (SSA) with the government, the timeline for implementation of various aspects of the project are clearly mentioned, and on the whole, the average time for execution of such a project from land allotment to start of production at site is around three years," said a senior officer involved closely with industrial projects in the state.

Talking of speed, the biggest compliment to Narendra Modi's Gujarat administration came from none other than ace industrialist Ratan Tata himself. At the time of re-locating his Nano car factory to Sanand in 2008 Tata had praised Modi for the speed with which the state government had allotted land for his project.  What's more the project itself was executed in flat 14 months time.

HG Koshia, commissioner of the Food and Drug Control Administration (FDA) of Gujarat, the man behind granting final approvals to any pharma project in the state said, "The process of application sent by the company to approval to start work is completed within two to three months, including cross departmental clearances."

He further added that in case of major projects a review meeting is usually held by the chief secretary of the state to take stock of progress in project execution. "Any issues related to any government department is usually taken up for resolution at such meetings and the matter is closed at the earliest," he said.

Data too seems to support the claims made by the state bureaucracy. As per Gujarat government the has executed 1556  industrial projects during the period of August 1991 to December 2010 committed through Industrial Entrepreneur Memoranda ( IEMs).

Recently, in the wake of farmers protests, Modi's administration excluded 36 out of 44 villages in the planned special investment region (SIR) to contain the unrest and ensure a smooth passage for Maruti's plant in Mandal-Becharaji region. Peugeot is perhaps the only project in recent years which got stuck; but not for any lag from the government. The crisis struck company could not make timely payments for the land that was allotted and the state government had no option but to sell part of the land to other interested buyers.

The state government's efficiency can also be seen in the way it handled large ticket projects such as the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR). The Gujarat government had allotted around 2,366 hectares of land in the SIR to majors like Universal Success Enterprise (USE), Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Nano Works Developers' 'Nano City'.

However, despite several reminders from the state government, the companies missed the January 31, 2013 deadline for making down payment on the offered land, following which the the Dholera SIR Development Authority (DSIRDA) had to forfeit the allotment. But the state government did not waste much time and soon initiated talks with Cadila Healthcare (Zydus), Cadila Pharmaceuticals and Torrent Group for allotment of the said land.

Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), the nodal agency to regulate port operations in state, has envisaged setting up of green-field non-major ports at Khambhat, Dahej, Sutrapada, Modhawa and Mahuva.

However, according to GMB sources, work could start at only Dahej port, while Khambhat project has been put on hold due to Kalpasar reservoir project. Also, government has changed the site location of port from Sutrapada to Kachchigadh in Saurashtra, hence it will take more time to formally start the work there.

They further said, the government is indecisive about the port project at Modhava. The port project at Mahuva has also been put on hold due to local protest.

Major Projects that came to Gujarat in last five years

Project	Status
Tata Motors' Nano project at Sanand	In operation
Ford India's integrated engine and vehicle assembly plant	Construction work is on
Maruti Suzuki's plant at Mandal-Becharaji	Boundary wall put up
Teva-P&G joint venture plant for OTC products at Sanand	Started Phase I of project
Abbott India's nutraceutical manufacturing plant at Jhagadia	Construction work is on
Hero MotoCorp's two-wheeler plant at Halol	In process taking possession of land
Nestle India's FMCG products plant at Sanand	Begun work at site
Colgate-Palmolive's oral care products plant at Sanand	Construction work is on
Bosch Rexroth's hydraulic systems plant at Sanand	In operation