INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN RAJASTHAN

 

Rajasthan is the most preferred destination for investments in major sectors. Easy availability of raw resources makes it the natural choice for agro and minerals based industries. There is vest potential for food processing, solvent extraction and associated industries like cold storage in Rajasthan. The large stock of cattle is an advantage for leather, wool, dairy and meat based units. There is no dearth of project ideas for those interested in capitalizing on the extensive mineral reserves in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan also has a flourishing textile industry. There are opportunities to blend the traditional colourful extravaganza with modern textiles.

Tourism is a thriving and vibrant industry in Rajasthan. The State attracts one third of the tourists coming into India. The State offers opportunities of large investments in a variety of areas ranging from hotels, amusement parks, ropeways, health resorts, transportation and other innovative tourism projects.

The state government is also keen to attract investment in sectors like automobiles, consumer goods and Information Technology (IT).

RIICO has developed over 292 industrial areas all over Rajasthan for attracting investment in industrial sector and other areas. RIICO has also developed theme based Parks such as Special Economic Zones (SEZ) at Jaipur, Jodhpur & Neemrana (being developed); IT Parks at Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota & Udaipur; EPIP at Jaipur & Jodhpur; Agro Food Parks at Kota, Jodhpur & Sriganganagar; Apparel Park at Jaipur; Bio Tech Parks at Jaipur, Jodhpur & Bhiwadi; Growth Centres and other special Parks also. There is a vast opportunities of investment in these Parks and also these Parks offers various lucrative incentives for investment. 

The State offers investment opportunities in all sectors and a few sectors are  

1. Information Technology and IT enabled services.

Software and services exports continued to remain on top of the IT industry’s revenue. The export-driven software sector saw major long term projects come to Indian ICT leaders and Indian companies bagging a larger and larger share of the global outsourced business. The software export sector logged in a revenue of Rs. 47,500 crore during 2002-03, a jump of around 30 percent.

 

As per projections of NASSCOM, Indian IT / ITES market will be of $62 Billion by 2009 and $US 148 Billion by 2012. The growth in IT & ITES market in India will translate to manpower requirement estimation of 9.72 lacs for IT export services and 27.17 lacs for ITES export services by 2012.

The State of Rajasthan being close to NCR, offers investment opportunities in IT sector especially in ITES. To attract investment in IT sector, RIICO has developed State of Art IT Parks at Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur & Jodhpur. RIICO is also considering to develop such IT Parks at Bhiwadi (Alwar). The infrastructure in terms of developed plots, continuous power, High Speed Data Com Facility through Satellite Earth Station, Roads etc. are being made available to IT industries in IT Parks.

An investor friendly IT Policy is already in place, provides lucrative incentives to IT industries (download IT Policy). The following concessions are being available in IT Parks.

i)                   Land rebate upto 60% depending upon type & size of investment

ii)                 Exemption of Stamp Duty on registration of land

iii)               50% Exemption from electricity duty for 7 years

iv)               Simplified Labour Laws. (women are allowed to work in night shift, self certification under various State enactment's etc.)

v)                 Customised package for Investment beyond Rs.10 crores.

vi)               Venture Capital (on merit).

2. Bio Technology (BT) 

A new generation of biotechnology developed as a result of intensive work in India has opened up new opportunities for economic development in the country.

 

The country is also rapidly emerging as a major market for biotech products. The current consumption of biotechnology products in India is of the order of Rs. 90 billion which is expected to increase to Rs. 234 billion by 2010. The healthcare sector would contribute 38% of the market, agriculture 32% and industrial products 30%. The small scale sector is expected to play a major role in the growth of the biotech industry.

 

Rajasthan is very rich in Bio resources. The State provide tremendous bio diversity, rarely to be found in any other State. Rajasthan is very rich in cattle breed also. State has highest livestock population and there is good potential in animal husbandry and genetic engineering.  Thus Rajasthan has great potential to create immense industrial activity in Biotechnology and modern Biotech products involving recombinant DNA based products and Bio Informatics.

To attract investment in BT sector, RIICO is considering to develop State of Art Bio Tech Parks at Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bhiwadi (Alwar). The infrastructure in terms of developed plots, continuous power, High Speed Data Com Facility, Roads, common testing facility etc. are being developed in Bio Tech Parks.

An investor friendly Bio Tech Policy is on anvil under which many lucrative incentives will be provided to Bio Tech investor. The following concessions are available in Bio Tech Parks.

i)                   Land rebate upto 60% to modern Bio Tech depending on the type and size of investment.

ii)                 Exemption from Stamp duty for registration of land.

iii)               50% Exemption from electricity duty for 7 years.

iv)               Labour laws relaxed (Women are allowed to work in night shift, self certification under various State enactment's etc.)

v)                 Venture Capital (on merit).

 

3. Agro Based Industries

 

In coming years, there would be great potential for Food Technologies. Rajasthan being leading producers of major crops, offers vast potential for Agro Based Industries.

 

Rajasthan being primarily agragarian economy and leader in producing Bajra, Barley, Pulses, Coriander, Cummins and host of Aurvedic herbals/Medicines (like Isabgoal, Asgandh, Guggal, Saina, Henna etc.), the Government of Rajasthan has given utmost priority and attention for development of Agro Food Parks. To provide requisite thrust to promote industrial ventures of this sector, it has already announced following concession to units located in Agro Food

Parks developed by RIICO.

 

1.     Exemption of Land & Building Tax.

2.     Exemption of Stamp Duty.

3.     Exemption of Electricity Duty for 5 years.

4.     Public Utility Status.

5.     Exemption of Entry Tax on raw materials.

6.     Set off of Sales Tax on Capital Goods.

7.     Set off of Entry Tax on capital goods.

8.     Exemption of Mandi Tax.


The following sectors also offers great opportunities for investment in the State:-

ü     Power Sector

ü     Education Institutes

ü     Urban Infrastructure

ü     Tourism Sector

ü     Handicrafts

ü     Gems & Jewellery

ü     Automobiles

ü     Garments and Textiles

ü     Road & Bridges