E-Paper
How a govt-industry joint venture is helping firms during Covid-19 lockdown
New Delhi
New Delhi
On day five of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, a supplier of frozen fruits and vegetables in Karnataka was worried about the logistics of procuring produce from 100-odd farmers who were losing Rs 5 lakh a day because of supply disruption.
Invest India, a government and industry joint venture, approached the state government and obtained approvals for the supplier’s company to transport the perishables and protect the livelihood of the farmers.
Invest India has similarly facilitated several firms during the lockdown. Recently, it helped an online meat delivery outlet obtain approvals to operate a processing centre and 15 distribution centres to supply essential food items within Maharashtra, a newsletter of Invest India said. It also helped several units start manufacturing medical testing kits and masks, it said.
With the help of consultancy firms such as EY, Invest India is helping the industry to resolve problems pertaining to logistics during the lockdown, people associated with the national investment promotion and facilitation agency said.
Since its launch on March 21, its “Business Immunity Platform” (BIP) has received more than 2,828 queries and 2,375 of them have been resolved, according to the latest BIP newsletter. Most queries (30%) were related to logistics support, it said.
“EY is associated with Invest India since 2016 as consultants on various aspects related to investors’ query handling, knowledge support, vetting of investible projects for the India Investment Grid etc,” said Adil Zaidi, partner for government and transaction advisory services at EY India..
“With the Covid-19 outbreak and the consequent lockdown, we are now also helping the organisation on several immediate initiatives such as Invest India’s business immunity platform and its rapid query response team of 150 people, which has been instituted to help industries and investors in procurement of raw materials, logistical support and regulatory approvals during this challenging period.”
Deepak Bagla, managing director and CEO of Invest India, said it had launched the BIP to bring facilitation to the doorstep. “It is bringing together key government stakeholders, industry champions and logistics providers to identify and fill demand-supply shortages in the supplies required to combat Covid-19,” he said.
The agency has roped in global consultants – EY, PwC, KPMG, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Primus Partners and Mirae Asset Management – to create a strategic and “ready to implement” action plan for India’s economic revival by analysing quantitative and qualitative metrics across states, districts and sectors.
“Our services are available to all stakeholders – the Union government, state governments, industries and investors,” Bagla said.
One of the consultants engaged by the platform said on condition of anonymity that most global firms are working on a pro bono basis and preparing a strategy to lift the lockdown in phases. The newsletter mentioned above said the seven consultants are part of a business reconstruction team that is drafting phase one of the economic revival plan.
“The plan will be submitted to the government as an input. We are continuously providing our inputs to the government through the ministry of commerce and industry,” the consultant said.
Queries sent to the commerce and industry ministry, KPMG, PwC, Bain & Company, BCG, Primus Partners and Mirae Asset Management did not elicit any response.
Formed in 2009 for promotion of foreign investment, Invest India is a public-private venture with a 49% government stake, while 51% shareholding is equally held by industry associations – the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). The 49% government stake is held by the commerce ministry and 19 states. The industry secretary is Invest India’s non-executive chairman.
