Slide in rank could hurt investor sentiment for 'Make in Odisha'

The slump in Odisha's rank to the 14th position at the latest 'Ease of Doing Business' (EODB) ratings could wean away investors from a state showing renewed promise with reforms but plagued by a patchy record in their implementation.

From seventh in 2016 to shedding four slots to 11th in 2017 and descending again to 14th in the survey released in 2018, Odisha's hope of making it to the coveted top three has been dashed. Though there is not much to tell apart between the top 14 states in score, industry leaders feel the continued fall in ratings does not augur well when the state is barely four months shy of hosting its biggest investment conclave- ‘Make in Odisha’, the second edition, from November 11 to 15.

"The state's rank was seventh at one point of time which further nosedived to 11 and now 14. This will definitely have an impact at the ensuing Make in Odisha summit. The government should think how to improve the rank. They should introspect about the lacunae and reasons for coming down (of rankings)," said Ramesh Mohapatra, President of Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI), a leading industry body in the state.

It will also impact the confidence of the investors, he added.

However, Odisha which aims to make its second showpiece summit grander than the inaugural is not perturbed. “Investors do a lot of due diligence before deciding on their investments. We don’t foresee any negative impact of the latest rankings on investor sentiment for the upcoming Make in Odisha Conclave 2018”, said Sanjeev Chopra, principal secretary (industries), Odisha.

Nonetheless, the introspection has taken off on the depressed rankings. 

"Our score fell because of the combined compliance percentage and the feedback received from the industry. Fifty five per cent of the 78 action points got implemented with the introduction of GO-SWIFT (Government of Odisha Single Window for Investor Facilitation & Tracking) in October 2017. The stakeholders from whom the feedback was taken for the purpose of the BRAP (Business Reforms Action Plan) 2017 assessment by DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion) may not be completely aware of the development of the system. It is expected that with the increase in awareness and usage of GO-SWIFT by the investor community, the feedback score of the state in future assessments will improve”, Chopra reasoned. More, he believes there is scope to improve on ground implementation of business reforms.

Andhra Pradesh is the top ranked state with a score of 98.42 per cent whereas Odisha attained 92.09 per cent. Out of the 372 reforms enlisted in BRAP, the state has implemented majority of the ‘Evidence’ based reforms, which has led to a compliance of 97.83 per cent. This is approximately five per cent improvement over the score (92.73 per cent) received by the state last year. The state has significantly improved its score in two years from initial score of 52.15 per cent in 2015. States scoring beyond 95 per cent have been categorised as ‘top achievers’. Those with scores in the band of 90-95 have been clustered in the ‘achievers’ category.

Over the past few years, multiple initiatives have been taken by Odisha to enhance investment promotion preparedness. These include institutionalizing State Level Facilitation Cell, appointment of sector-specific nodal officers to handhold investors, identification of six focus sectors, regular domestic and international investor outreach through roadshows and a focused approach to facilitating investments through technology-enabled interventions like GO-SWIFT.