State failed to draw investors: Assocham

Ranchi: A study published by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (Assocham) on Thursday said Jharkhand has failed to attract both domestic and global investors as the investments attracted by the state have declined continuously since FY2010-11 till FY2015-16.
The state attracted investments worth Rs 6 lakh crore in FY2015-16, accounting for around a 4% share in the total outstanding investments worth about Rs 170 lakh crore attracted by both public and private sectors from domestic and foreign sources, the study revealed.
On the employment front, Jharkhand generated only 3,234 jobs in the state.
Tracking the performance of the industrial sector since 2000, the state has continued to remain hostile towards investors with the outstanding investments percentage attracted by the state declining from 26% in 2010-11 to 2.5% in FY2015-16, the study revealed.
Assocham national president Sunil Kanoria said the decline in investments can be attributed to several "deadlocks", including mining and land acquisition issues. Kanoria stressed on the importance of "simplifying policy making" to facilitate investments.
"Things have started to look up in the past 12 months," Kanoria said.
A delegation of Assocham on Thursday met chief minister Raghubar Das and mooted a proposal to create one-time infrastructure development worth Rs 10,000 crore in a joint venture with the Centre to transform the state into an investment destination.
Assocham stressed on the need to boost agricultural infrastructure. "The state has recorded a 13.1% growth in the agricultural sector which needs to be appreciated. The focus should be on technology development in irrigation and quality of seeds," Kanoria said.