Rebooting Rajasthan; tapping the pravasis

 The Rising Rajasthan 2024 investment summit, to be held in Jaipur from 9 to 11 December 2024, will hold a Pravasi Rajasthani Conclave on the 10th of December 2024. The aim of the three-day summit, which has started creating a buzz in many cities, is to bring the Rajasthani diaspora from across the globe and foster a sense of community and collaborations and also explore investment and philanthropic opportunities while actively contributing to the state’s development.

The Summit is being held at a time when India in ranked as the fifth largest economy in the world and also one of the fastest growing big economies globally. It is well on its way to become the third largest economy. Global investors, as a part of their policy to de-couple from China, are looking at India to invest. Many state governments are competing hard to garner a chunk of the investment pie by doling out incentives and framing suitable policies.

 

The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bhajanlal Sharma, has already visited Japan and South Korea where he invited the investor’s communities and entrepreneurs to make investments and highlighted the steps to create a business-friendly environment in the state. Meanwhile, senior teams of the state government have worked out a road map to visit other Indian cities, including Kolkata.

 

 

However, as far as foreign direct investment (FDI) is concerned, Rajasthan, which ranked ninth with Rs 2,195 crore FDI inflow in the last fiscal (2023-24) as per Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data, has a lot to catch up. Maharashtra, for instance, had topped FDI investment in India with Rs 125,101 crore inflow during the same period.

 

 

I recall a similar initiative Resurgent Rajasthan was launched in late 2015 by the then chief minister, Smt Vasundhara Raje Scindia, and I had received a request to act as the resource person for Resurgent Rajasthan in Kolkata. I remember the then Industry Minister and the Principal Secretary of Rajasthan Government had visited many Indian cities along with the chief minister who had also made it a point to visit Japan.

 

 

Earlier too, a lot of planning and efforts were made to attract the Pravasi or Non-Resident Rajasthanis (NRRs) to invest in Rajasthan. In fact, it had all started in the year 2000 when the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot, had hosted the Pravasi Rajasthani Sammelan which later gave shape to the formation of Rajasthan Foundation – which is currently working as an autonomous body under the Department of Industries. I had attended that Pravasi Rajasthani Sammelan 2000 as the youngest invitee by the Chief Minister.

 

 

This time also I received an invitation from the present Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal Sharma, to attended Pravasi Rajasthani Conclave on 10th December 2024 at the Rising Rajasthan 2024 summit as a guest of honour.

I remember at the first such Sammelan in 2000, L N Mittal and Rahul Bajaj had clearly said that emotion and industry are two different things and that business and industry could not be run on the basis of emotion alone.

 

Rajasthan has excellent locales for shooting films. Here again, with only a couple of notable exceptions, it is the South Indians and Maharashtrians who are the major players in the film industry.

 

I also recall at that time when Ashok Gehlot, as the Chief Minister, had led a delegation of cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats to the USA to attend functions and meetings organized by the Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) which is accredited to the Rajasthan Foundation. Before leaving for the United States, Ashok Gehlot had told the press that his trip was not only for inviting investments for the industry but also to develop and create an emotional bonding between Rajasthan and Non-Resident Rajasthanis.

Our current Government is very clear about what they want and are working towards it.

 

It is ironical that Rajasthan – a state that produces top industrialists – is itself not so developed industrially.

Why so?

Well, this question has bothered me a lot. Some of my industrialist friends from Rajasthan have an easy answer. «Rajasthan does not have proper infrastructure,» they say. I am not convinced by their reasoning and have my own perspective on the matter.

Rajasthanis, or the Marwari community, have panned out all over the world and established very successful businesses and conglomerates. The Rajasthanis are mainly into cement, power, tea and trade. Sadly, these are the areas in which Rajasthan neither has a good infrastructure nor a friendly industrial atmosphere to attract its own community members to set up big projects. On the other hand, the tourism and hotel industry – the mainstay of Rajasthan›s business – are areas or domains in which the traditional Rajasthani businessmen are hardly present. In fact, the top five hotel groups in India are managed by non-Rajasthanis.

 

Rajasthan has excellent locales for shooting films. Here again, with only a couple of notable exceptions, it is the South Indians and Maharashtrians who are the major players in the film industry. This is one area where the otherwise ubiquitous Marwari businessmen are conspicuous by their absence.

So Rajasthan has opportunities in areas where the local business communities are not involved, and the areas in which the Non-Resident Rajasthanis (NRRs) are involved, the state does not have anything substantial to offer. They seem to be out of sync.

 

As a member and office bearer of various Rajasthani and NRR organisations, I have had the privilege to be with many of the state delegations with senior state ministers to develop tourism, trade and industry. But I can tell from my experience that these visits, apart from some memorandum of understandings (MoUs), have not achieved much. It is my observation that for the most part, whatever the reasons, the senior ministers and bureaucrats of the state do not have the requisite powers to clear projects while on their promotional tours.

 

The state’s efforts have centred solely on attracting the NRRs who are not interested in the type of business opportunities offered.

I cannot recall any major initiative taken by any of the regimes in Rajasthan to attract investors from communities other than Rajasthanis in the potentially high growth areas of business. Also, the state is yet to develop the areas where the NRRs can invest and catapult the state industry to a higher growth trajectory.

 

I feel the state government must immediately take steps to ameliorate this neglect and set in motion the process of creating a smart investment climate for NRRs and reach out to the investors from other communities.

 

I have often heard that there is a marked difference in the attitude of the ministers from Rajasthan when they meet NRRs in their cities and when the NRRs come to meet them in Rajasthan. Many people have alleged that the ministers hardly have time for those who are visiting the state. If this is true, then why such a waste of time, energy and resources sending out delegates to woo NRRs.

 

I sincerely feel the whole approach of the state’s industrial policy needs a revamp and fresh thinking which our Chief Minister is capable of. So why not do some re-surgery before going ahead with Rising Rajasthan.

 

I strongly feel in the forthcoming Summit on Rajasthan Rising 2024 there must be some thought-provoking sessions on emotional bonds to attract NRRs and about their social investments or what their forefathers have contributed.

 

Generations have lost touch with their native land and schools and hospitals which were established at that time and are now ruined. Same with their houses. The entire Shekhawati area, lanes after lanes are desolate. Efforts should be made through this conclave to address the issue with the help of the Pravasi Rajasthanis.

 

Also, there is a compelling need to re-focus on the investment trends and the newer areas of growth, the rise of artificial intelligence, the evolution of alternative energy resources, the search for smart solutions and the ever-growing needs of the Indian defence sector are some of the areas that merits top priority.

This article was published in the Daily Guardian and First India