Punjab needs to improve policies to attract FDI: NRIs

CHANDIGARH: Punjab needs to follow Gujarat's lead and improve its "poor" policies if it wants to attract more investment from overseas Indians, NRIs at an investment meet here today said.

"I do not see any major schemes or major development from Punjab or the state government which really helps (in getting NRI investments)," said Punjabi NRI Satinder Dhiman, who migrated to the US from Jalandhar 22 years ago.

"It will be logical for the state government to look into it as lot of (NRI) money is out there," he said at the 8th 'Punjabi Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2011' NRI investors' meet here, adding that real estate, education, services and IT are the potential sectors where NRI investments could flow in.

Another NRI, Mahendra Khari, the President of the International Punjabi Chamber for Service Industry (IPCSI), pointed out that unlike other states like Gujarat, the Punjab government was not efficient in propagating polices or taking initiatives to attract foreign investment.

"In Punjab, they (Punjab government) do not have much PR exercise like Gujarat... I have not seen much support from state functionaries like NRI help centres, professional support, etc.. It (support) is at a personal level (rather) than any other level," rued Khari, who is based in the UK.

The Punjab government, too, thinks there is scope for more investment by NRIs in the state.

"I am not satisfied (with the scale of NRI investment in Punjab)... There is always a room on the top... There is a scope for improvement (in terms of investment)... I want more and more (NRI) investments should flow in the state," Punjab Industry and Commerce Minister Manoranjan Kalia told reporters here.

According to Kalia, Punjab has received Rs 5,000 crore of FDI in the last four years in several sectors.

The state accounts for just 0.42 per cent of the FDI inflows into the country, with the majority of the foreign direct investment witnessed in the manufacturing, warehousing (Bharti-Walmart), IT, real estate and pharma sectors.

Though data on the investment by Punjabi NRIs is not yet available, the bulk of their funds went into the IT, real estate, education and agri-processing sectors.

The strength of the overseas Punjabi NRI community is estimated at around 10 million, which is mainly concentrated in Britain, North America, South-East Asia and the Middle East.