Inviting industrialists for setting up their base in the Union Territory, Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan on Friday said the Puducherry government’s recent initiatives on Ease of Doing Business, approvals for SEZs and plans for augmenting the operational capacity of Karaikal Port have made the region an ideal destination for investments.

Speaking at the Southern Regional Council meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said a slew of reforms were initiated prior to the Assembly elections. A good platform has been created for industries to establish their units with the enactment of legislations, including the Puducherry Ease of Doing Business (Service Delivery) Act. The government was taking every step towards strengthening the ease of doing business factor, with greater monitoring of applications and bringing accountability for delays, the Lt. Governor said.

The administration had devoted considerable attention to the reforms in the past year and expressed confidence that the measures would attract greater investments into the Union Territory. There are plans to augment the operational capacity of the port in Karaikal. The Karaikal region has the potential to emerge as a major centre of port-led industrial development. The port could turn out to be the centre for importing raw materials and for the export of finished goods, the Lt. Governor said.

Highlighting the importance of port-led industrial development, Mr. Kailashnathan said, “The port should not be looked at as a single entity. Around the port, you must have manufacturing facilities and economic activity. Only then, would we be able to provide jobs to the youngsters. For that an entire ecosystem has to be created.”

Urging the private sector to pitch on the job front, the Lt. Governor said, “The government alone cannot create jobs for all that our youth aspires to. The responsibility of the government is to create the conditions in which entrepreneurs could create enterprises and the enterprises were able to create jobs.”

He also spoke about the need for energy security by tapping the huge potential of the country in generating solar power. “We need to have more power so that the cost of energy comes down. Reduced price of electricity will bring down manufacturing cost and that will make our products competitive in international markets,” he said.

The Lt. Governor called for Southern India to be viewed not as separate economic territories but as “one interconnected industrial ecosystem,” where investments, technology, talent, infrastructure and supply chains could move seamlessly across State boundaries. “We must think of Southern India not as six separate economic territories, but as one interconnected industrial ecosystem,” Mr. Kailashnathan said.

Interacting with industry representatives, Chief Secretary Sharat Chauhan said administrative measures were fast progressing on the establishment of the multi-model SEZ at Karasur and IT SEZ at Mettupalayam. “In the next three to four months, we could see some forward movement regarding allotment of land,” he said.

At the event, the Lt. Governor released the Business Reforms Handbook for Enterprises and Entrepreneurs, a reference book brought out by the Puducherry government to support entrepreneurs in navigating various regulator and approval process.

The event also witnessed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between CII and Pondicherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment Corporation Limited for taking up capacity building programme.