Public private dialogue is a key foundation for growth and implementation is the key to success. This was the short, but curt, message of the World Bank team to the Uttar Pradesh government at a seminar organised by the state government here on Saturday.
Deliberating on the theme of the seminar, public private dialogue for improvement in investment climate in the state, World Bank representative John Speakman said it was better to do nothing than promise policies and then not deliver them.
The stinging statement comes in the backdrop of the common refrain of the participants that Uttar Pradesh is high on policies, but low on implementation. ?Good policies without implementation are worse than no policy at all,? Speakman told FE on the sidelines of the seminar.
?Uttar Pradesh needs to be more consistent about implementing reforms? commitments need to be followed through to build credibility. These two, according to me, are the most important drivers for improvement in the investment climate in the state,? he added.
In fact, today?s seminar, in which all stakeholders were invited, was an attempt by the state government to reassure the World Bank about its seriousness to make the industrial climate conducive for attracting private sector participation.
It may be mentioned that a high-level World Bank team had last month put certain riders on the state government before sanctioning a Rs 15,242-crore soft loan under the UP Development Policy Loan. The main thrust areas where the World Bank has expressed concern are power and governance sectors. While power has, time and again, been pointed out as the top bottleneck for the state?s plan for industrialisation, stress has also been laid on the need for a fixed tenure for bureaucrats as also enforcing strict measures for anti-corruption and administrative reforms.
?While there are many sectoral bottlenecks that the industry faces in UP, power and corruption are the two most important challenges that need to be tackled immediately as they are a sure shot recipe for disaster,? Arvind Mohan, an eminent economist and World Bank consultant, said at the meet.
The seminar also acted as a forum for institionalising a dialogue between the industry and the state government before formulating a new investor-friendly and growth-oriented policy for the state. While the industry welcomed the move, the common perception was that Uttar Pradesh already has ?laudable policies? which are often taken up by other states for implementation while UP does nothing. ?UP?s efforts at policy making are laudable. In fact, the single window clearance system initiated in the state in 1980 by the then chief minister VP Singh is an apt example. While the system was taken up by other states, Udyog Bandhu, which had been created with the intention of facilitating investors, is lying almost defunct,? said AK Singh, director, Giri Institute. ?Positive signals of commitment towards development must be given by the political leadership of the state in order to bring about a critical change,? he added.
Representatives from industry chambers too were of the view that the only way of bringing in new private investment in the state was by word of mouth from the existing industry. ?Of the 32 items promised in the last industrial policy of 2004, only three-four have been taken up. So good policies alone do not mean anything unless they are given effective shape and implemented,? they felt.