Gujarat most preferred investment destination in India: ASSOCHAM

NEW DELHI: Five out of 20-industrial states, which is led by Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka, have become as the most sought after investment destinations by luring 53.5% of overall live investments worth Rs 120.34 lakh crore, said a recent study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASOCHAM).

While Gujarat has been successful in luring investment proposals worth Rs 16.28-lakh crore, Maharashtra Rs 14.14-lakh crore, Andhra Pradesh Rs 12.09-lakh crore, Orissa Rs 12.09-lakh crore, Karnataka Rs 9.85-lakh crore until the end of last year, and the other 15 states have bagged Rs 55.89- lakh crore worth of recommendations.

Tamil Nadu has been at the sixth position by luring investment recommendations worth Rs 9.13-lakh crore and Jharkhand stood at seventh position with Rs 7.16-lakh crore investment proposals.

The remaining 13 states have been West Bengal (Rs 6.23-lakh crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 5.65-lakh crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 5.38-lakh crore), Haryana (Rs 4.98-lakh crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 4.56-lakh crore), Rajasthan (Rs 2.54-lakh crore), Bihar (Rs 2.38-lakh crore), Punjab (Rs 2.16-lakh crore), Kerala (Rs 2.12-lakh crore), Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 1.11-lakh crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 1.07-lakh crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 84,062 crore) and Assam (Rs 58,179 crore).

The highest investment has been in electricity (35.9 per cent), manufacturing (25.3 per cent), services (21.8 per cent), real estate (11.8 per cent), irrigation (3.1 per cent) and mining (2.1 per cent).

DS Rawat, Secretary General of ASSOCHAM, said, “Investment in the primary sector represented by irrigation has the highest share in Andhra Prades. Next are Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. As against these states, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Assam gave the least priority to investing in irrigation development.”