REBOOTING RAJASTHAN: TAPPING THE PRAVASIS

Rajasthan has excellent locales for shooting films. Here again, with only a couple of notable exceptions, it is the South Indians and Maharashtrians who are the major players in the film industry.

- SUNDEEP BHUTORIA

The Rising Rajasthan 2024 investment summit, to be held in Jaipur from 9 to 11 December 2024, will hold a Pravasi Rajasthani Conclave on the 10th of December 2024. The aim of the three-day summit, which has started creating a buzz in many cities, is to bring the Rajasthani diaspora from across the globe and foster a sense of community and collaborations and also explore investment and philanthropic opportunities while actively contributing to the state's development.

The Summit is being held at a time when India is ranked as the fifth largest economy in the world and also one of the fastest growing big economies globally. It is well on its way to become the third largest economy. Global investors, as a part of their policy to de-couple from China, are looking at India to invest. Many state governments are competing hard to garner a chunk of the investment pie by doling out incentives and framing suitable policies.

The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bhajanlal Sharma, has already visited Japan and South Korea where he invited the investor's communities and entrepreneurs to make investments and highlighted the steps to create a business-friendly environment in the state. Meanwhile, senior teams of the state government have worked out a road map to visit other Indian cities, including Kolkata.

However, as far as foreign direct investment (FDI) is concerned, Rajasthan, which ranked ninth with Rs 2,195 crore FDI inflow in the last fiscal (2023-24) as per Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data, has a lot to catch up. Maharashtra, for instance, had topped FDI investment in India with Rs 125,101 crore inflow during the same period.