Haryana: Loses Sheen; Drops Ten Ranks in a Year

Haryana is one of the few states in the country that has shown a marked and rather disappointing performance this year as compared to last year in the SKOCH State of Governance ranking. The state was ranked at fourth in 2017 but in 2018, the rank has dropped to a meager 14th. New technologies and initiatives had made the state a “Star” performer in e-Governance in 2017 but the graph hit south this year and the state has not been able to impress in any of its earlier best performing sectors like e-Governance, Agriculture and Finance. The only sector that has shown a positive performance in 2018 is district administration and SKOCH found two of the government’s projects in this sector to be “best performing”.

Of all the 15 projects that were closely studied by SKOCH in different sectors, it found that only two projects in district administration alone were best performing. Interestingly both the projects are also interconnected and are part of the Rapid Metro project in Gurugram.

Rapid Metro Rail has been developed as a “last mile connectivity solution” linking Delhi to Gurugram to cater to the commercial and residential areas in the rapidly growing urban growth centre of Gurugram. It is India’s first fully privately funded metro facility, developed in a PPP format under concession from Haryana Urban Development Authority. The implementing company is promoted by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) group through its subsidiaries. The critical role that an efficient transport solution plays in promoting economic growth was recognised at an early stage by the state and the mass transit project was announced in 2009. The construction work commenced in 2010 and the system opened to general public in November 2013. For further network expansion, phase 2 was initiated which went “live” to commercial operations in early 2017.

Another best performing project is a Solar Power Plant that has been developed by the Rapid MetroRail. In order to adapt to global climate change and reduce carbon footprint, switching to renewable sources of power generation is a key enabler. In this regard, Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon South Limited (RMGSL) has developed a 403.15 KWp Roof Top Solar Power Plant. This initiative makes Rapid Metro Gurgaon greener and smarter transport and also contributes to the National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan for Climate Change. The model is replicable and the benefits include significant reduction in emissions over its lifetime of 25 years and moving towards resource efficiency and circular economy.

The Metro Rail network uses power primarily for traction of the rolling stock, lighting of coaches and stations, E&M equipment including lifts and escalators. The overall power demand is 2.5 to 3.0 MW which is primarily met by securing power from 66 KV and 11 KV State Grid from two sub stations of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL).

Historically, Haryana is an agrarian state but with its initiatives and policies, the state today is a welldeveloped industrial state. The state is one of India’s largest automobile hubs and accounts for two thirds of passenger cars, 50 per cent of tractors and 60 per cent of motorcycles manufactured in the country. The state has also emerged as a base for the knowledge industry, including IT and biotechnology.

The state has offered a wide range of fiscal and policy incentives for businesses under the Industrial and Investment Policy, 2011. Haryana stands 14th among Indian states in rankings based on ease-of-doing business and reforms implementation, according to a study by the World Bank and KPMG. The state has attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows worth $79.76 billion during the period April 2000 to June 2018.

The state has everything going right in its favour and the governance needs to maintain the state’s financial health while ensuring that other sectors which had performed really well last year get their graphs back.