GOD Save Goa

In cricketing terms, Goa has got off to a really poor start in 2018. The supreme court judgement means mining is going to come to a grinding halt by the middle of March 2018. Then we had a taxi strike which apart from damaging the tourist image of Goa, severely dented the reputation of many politicians. The formation of the Greater Panaji PDA was another setback that exposed the behind the scene activities that take precedence over Goan interests, It is surely a messy affair for Goa going forward, no pun intended. Then the body blow, the one person who is cornerstone of this Government, CM Manohar Parrikar is sick with mild pancreasitis.

The Supreme court judgement has far reaching consequences. The short sighted approach to try and bypass the auction clause has led to another stoppage. One can argue that by renewing the leases Goa, has saved it self from gang lords or that it prevents transfer of  goan mines into the hands of so called outsiders. The point is auctions as proved in the case of coal mine auctions bring in much needed revenue for the State and everyone can bid, including local mine owners (this term itself was a fallacy, they were actually goan lease holders). We seem to have no issue handing coal mined by an outsider in Australia but if the same Adani grabs a lease in Goa, that is a problem, why?. If one looks at the landscape of hotels there are very few goan owned hotels and many owners actually lease out their properties to large groups from outside. So what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.

Unfortunately, every MLA is batting for renewal of leases, are they just saying it for the gallery or do they really want Goa to continue to be short changed as before. The argument that poor people in the rural areas will get effected and thus it was necessary to renew the leases in a hurry without application of mind. I do hope that going forward the MLA’s will actually stop playing to the gallery and start by agreeing to do what is in the best interests of Goa over the long term. The latest development of an all party team of MLA’s heading to Delhi is not going to be anything more than a jaunt. Neither is a new law foreseeable to bypass the Supreme court order as was done in the case of Cidade De Goa. People are very right is expecting something similar as if can be done for an individual why not for a larger population? MLA’s will find it hard to answer the people for sure. Unfortunately the fact that Parrikar is indisposed is going to hamper this decision even further.

The taxi strike was avoidable but dodging the bullet and passing buck will solve nothing. The Supreme court decision has to be taken seriously and implemented. This issue of speed governors is diversionary, and the taximen are right. Accidents are not only caused by speed of the taxis but also poor road engineering, jay walkers potholes etc . The real issue got swept under the carpet, that is the issue of allowing  taxi aggregators viz Ola Uber or Meru. Why can the taxi trade not see the explosion in usage with the app based system. Today, the focus is only on handling tourists. Why should locals be left out, imagine the opportunities for locals to go for an outing just because a cheaper mode of transport is available at their doorstep. The State can have a taxi culture that rivals Mumbai or Bangalore. This means more business for taximen, but the rider here is you have to drive to earn, no more playing cards and make a killing on one fare and relax for the rest of the day

The fact that citizens are the least of our law makers concern is very evident in the formation of the Greater Panaji PDA. This is a move where despite denials, is clearly a back room deal sealed to reward Babush for giving Parrikar a walkover. The deal is going to create a mess as if it goes through despite the opposition, will mean that we can see such adhoc PDA’s springing up all over Goa, as a reward or to create lucrative posts for all and sundry, …..one can imagine some people already planning and carving out the different areas of Goa.

And while there is so much action or inaction going on, the star batsman, the cornerstone of this Government has had to retire hurt. Retired hurt and having to go to Mumbai and beyond what what is being described as mild, speaks volumes about the state of our health care in Goa. Parrikar, came back  to present his budget, is it because he did not trust his nominated second in command, to present it verbatim or could it be that it could cause strife within the party? Then there is Goa Forward who is expressly part of this rainbow coalition only because Parrikar is the CM, what will be their stand if the absence is for a longer duration? If there is one U turn one can pray for it would be to see that CM Parrikar moves from ill health to healthy as soon as possible.

God please save Goa.

Where is the “ease” in doing business?

Goa is in the news again and for the wrong reasons. It is ranked 21 among all the States and Union territories. The ASSOCHAM report which similarly stated that Goa needed to do a lot more was brushed aside by the Government and an Industry body came to the Governments rescue. The Industry reaction was viewed with suspicion as it did not reflect the ground realities but pandered to the Governments need for support. This report prepared by the Center in conjunction with the World Bank cannot be brushed aside and only highlights the fact that “all is not well” when it comes to helping business function easily.

The much touted IPB (Investment Promotion Board) formed under the Investment Promotion Act, lost it legs a few days ago when the Chief Minister declared it was not a single window for investment in the State as was given to believe. The statement coming on the heels of questions raised by the High Court only proves that acting in haste and trying bulldoze the opposition to accept projects without thinking, ends up in actually delaying projects and increasing the tension of doing business in Goa.

The statement by the Chief Minister is also surprising. If this was the case why was the “in principle” approval assumed to be fait accompli and why was the impression that IPB subsumed every other statutory body eg: TCP, GSPCB etc given. Why was this clarification not issued earlier. Actually, the reason real reason for creating the impression that it was a single window was to convey to the other arms of governance that there should be no questions asked and the applications have to be fast tracked irrespective of the situation, the IPB has seen the power point presentation and approved.

The IPB drafting committee did not have a single hotel industy expert, after its formation it was decided that the “investment’ in IPB would include hotel projects, originally it meant manufacturing and services. Hotels, are an investment, question is what prompted their inclusion.

If one studies the hotel projects approved (now reverted to in principle approval) by the IPB and study the details of when the properties were purchased, one will surprisingly note that the properties were purchased before 2012, however none of these properties could have seen the light of day as hotels because they were all either Kazan, orchards, fields or no development zones as per the Regional plan. Once the IPB came into existence, all these properties immediately submitted their plans for hotels and were immediately approved. Now we will have to wait and watch what happens in court as other than TCP, IPB cannot make a zone change.

The IPB has to follow the IP Act which lists thrust areas. It was surprising to note and see that an alcohol manufacturing unit was accorded approval in an orchard. Alcohol is not a thrust area, new alcohol manufacturing projects are banned in the industrial estates. One Government, two rules. Should alcohol manufacturing be allowed or not is not part of the discussion, why different interpretation by different arms of the same Government. This project also had the distinction of needing support of a notification which classified all the toddy tappers in the State as grasshoppers by declaring coconut trees were not trees.

The IPB has many mandates, approve projects is one, what about others. The IPB is supposed to recommend or decide how business can be facilitated. These has two aspects, infrastructure building and administrative reform. It is not only land that is scarce and needs to be provided, what about electricity and water.

The IPB in its wisdom actually rejected a project of a steel processor, this decision was over ruled by a cabinet decision despite a cabinet decision banning new steel mills. The electricity department assured the project 10MW of power, yet industry is crying for power for expansion and there is none. Should the IPB not be studying the power and water scenario and recommending to the Government ways to augment the same.

Administrative reforms are what industry has been harping on and this was just the right place to make a difference. The IPB application could have been designed so that when one applies to the IPB all information required for other departments concerned in also included and any department can process the same applicaion. The investor makes only one application to the IPB and the IPB passes it on to the respective departments and gets their approval or objections based on which the IPB gives its own in principle approval. The difference here is the investor is not following up with the departments but the IPB. This way post the in principle approval, departments cannot raise any new issues or decide against the project.

The “Ease of doing Business” ranking is very objective with 325 plus issues that need to be reformed by a State, these could have been discussed by the IPB and recommendations made to Government to reform areas like, inspection, online submission, multiple applications, increased use of IT for uploading returns etc. The IPB did nothing of this and the result is clear to see. RANK 21.

Going forward the IPB has to sit back and take stock of the situation...THINK. The best place to start is the ranking report. Being objective it gives clear guidelines as to where and what has to be done, let the IPB start doing this, forget giving rushed and dubious clearances, they will anyway get delayed when aggrieved citizens approach the court. Keep politicians out, bring in domain experts, clean up the business environment and the good projects will come. Goa is a great State and if the system supports, it will be a great State to do business.