Govt must incentivise NRIs to invest more in Kerala: CCCI

Concerned over Kerala's poor rank on the ease of doing business index prepared by the World Bank, an industry body today sought that thousands of crores of deposits by NRIs to the state should be used for productive activities like infrastructure development.
Noting that the remittances by NRIs to Kerala has already crossed Rs 1 lakh crores, the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) said that instead of just buying assets and constructing big building with involves huge investments, the government must incentivise them to invest more in the state.
The NRI deposits should be used for productive activities like infrastructure development. The government should float NRI bonds with attractive interest rates so that the money does not flow into the hands of private financial groups, who make huge profits, while infrastructure projects here remain in limbo due to lack of funds, the body said in a statement.

The rankings were provided in the report titled 'Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms' which was prepared by World Bank in association with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), KPMG, CII and FICCI.
"...Even after all the hard work put in by the industry, Kerala has been ranked only 18th in the list in the...Report," it said.
According to the Chamber, Kerala has been identified as one of the three debt stressed states in the country with a per capita debt of 60 per cent, which is above the national average.
"The worrisome aspect is that most of these borrowings are used up for consumption and not for creation of public assets. This needs to be changed as the Chamber feels that lowering this level will attract more investments to public infrastructure projects," the statement added.

The World Bank index, released yesterday, has ranked BJP-ruled Gujarat as the best place in the country to do business and Andhra Pradesh, ruled by BJP-ally TDP, as the second best state, followed by Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan - all having BJP governments.