Odisha second best state in attracting private investments: Assocham

The state accounts for about 12% share of the total pvt investment lined up in the country

Odisha has emerged as the second best destination in attracting private investments after Gujarat until December 2012, an industry report said.

The state accounts for about 12 per cent share of the total private investment lined up in the country. Odisha has attracted private investments worth Rs 8 lakh crore as of December 2012 with the state's total outstanding investment at Rs 11.7 lakh crore.

A sector specific analysis titled 'Composition of Outstanding Investments Across States,' carried out by the apex industry body, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), mentioned that private sources account for over 75 per cent of the total investments attracted by the state as on December 2012.

The private sector investments include commitments made by the domestic and foreign sources. Gujarat is the top state in attracting private investments in the country with a share of about 14 per cent in the total outstanding private sector commitments of Rs 75 lakh crore.

"The private sector accounts for over 62 per cent of the total outstanding investments attracted by India worth about Rs 122 lakh crore during the aforesaid period," said DS Rawat, national secretary general of Assocham. While the private sector accounts for about 85 per cent of the total outstanding investments worth about Rs 7 lakh crore attracted by Jharkhand, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh are other top states where private sector accounted for a share of about 70 per cent and above in total investments kitty.

He said, inflow of private investments is influenced by bureaucratic efficiency, infrastructure facilities and ease of land acquisition and is decided by attractiveness of investment opportunities as they are mostly driven by profitability considerations.

Besides, tax concessions, product market conditions and exit policies are certain effective tools to appeal the private investors.

Taking up the third spot after Odisha in the Assocham list is Andhra Pradesh, where the share of private investment vis a vis the country's figure is 9.4 per cent. It is followed by Maharashtra (9.4 percent).

Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra both have attracted private investments worth over Rs 7 lakh crore each. Karnataka, the fifth state in the list, has attracted private investments worth over Rs six lakh crore.

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Assam account for a share of less than even one percent respectively in the total private investment commitments across India, the Assocham report said.