State Industries Minister, Mauvin Godinho stated that around 19 companies, through the Invest Goa Summit 2022, have approached the Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board (IPB) with proposals. These 19 companies have projects involving investments of around 5000 crores with an employment potential of around 14000 jobs.
“The government will hand letters of intent to the companies at the summit venue. The actual investment proposals from the event are sure to be higher since the said proposals were received during the run-up to the event,” Godinho explained.
The Invest Goa 2022 Summit which is being backed by the Invest India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Ernest & Young (EY), World Trade Centre and Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, began this week at the Taleigao Community Hall with a facilitation and investor interaction.
More than 280 delegates – businessmen, startup founders, members of industry associations, diplomats from foreign embassies and global investors – signed up for the investor summit.
The government is upbeat about the summit, which is being held in the state after a long gap
of 10 years.
A huge chunk of the investment is expected to come from the Rs 3000 crore theme park that Delta Corp Ltd intends to set up on private land at Dhargalim. The State has already declared the 3.76 lakh sqm land at Dhargalim as an investment area with the Goa Investment Promotion Board granting in-principle approval for the project in December 2020.
“Outside interest in doing business in Goa is presently high. Many companies are eager to set up shop in the state. From our side, we are pushing the concept of business with pleasure. Businessmen can always enjoy the uniqueness of the state as they set up industrial projects,”
Godinho said.
Potential investors were given the opportunity to interact with heads of various departments so that doubts, queries and hurdles could be cleared.
To facilitate ease of doing business, the new industrial and investment policy has eliminated all the roadblocks faced by investors,
he claimed.
“Even if a company identifies private land the IPB will give single window clearance to it,” the Industry Minister explained, adding that the constant complaint of lack of industrial activity in the state is no longer true.
“Goa is a happening place now for doing business,” Godinho said, adding that citizens must be happy about the fact that Goa, despite its small size, is the hub for pharma exports and has units producing sophisticated components for NASA and Apple phone at the Verna Industrial Estate.
Godinho further affirmed that although the new industrial policy does not provide any reservation in private jobs for locals, the state will provide incentives to firms that recruit Goans
Of the 19 tangible proposals received, two are from U.S. companies, while one is from Dutch firm. Among these investment proposals is CMM Group’s logistics park at Dharbandora, which is still awaiting key approvals.
The details will be revealed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant during the event.
The summit includes breakfast interaction of Sawant with the business delegates, keynote presentations by investors, roundtable discussions, B2B meetings with government officials.
“The summit is not burdening the state exchequer as investors visiting the state are funding their stay,” disclosed GCCI president Ralph de Sousa.
Summit convenor Manguirish Pai Raiker added that the summit aims at highlighting Goa’s strong points such as good connectivity, potential to become logistics hub, high literacy rate, good quality of life, which makes it the ideal destination for investments and startups.
