INDIAN STATE : GOA

General Information

Goa, a tiny emerald land on the west coast of India, the 25th State in the Union of States of India, was liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961. It was part of Union territory of Goa, Daman & Diu till 30 May 1987 when it was carved out to form a separate State. Goa covers an area of 3702 square kilometers and comprises two revenue districts viz North Goa and South Goa.

Fact File

* Source: CSO Estimates
Official Website of Government of Goa

Advantage Goa

• A flourishing trading culture and major port
  
• Healthy Investment environment
  
• Sufficient power reserves and reasonable tariff rates
  
• Government acts as a facilitator
  
• Rich natural and human resources
  
• Goa is well connected by rail, air, road and sea to the rest of the country
  
• High literacy rates
  
• Well spread network of banking and financial institutions
  
• Goa is strategically located with good infrastructure facilities with a centrally located airport, a seaport and connectivity by excellent road network as also other essential infrastructure like container freight station etc.

Economic Infrastructure

Power

Goa is a power surplus state with a per capita power consumption of 690 Kwh, which is a reliable indicator of the supply of electricity. While the power available in the state has been estimated at 394 MW, the demand stood at 305 MW. Industry contributes approximately 60 per cent of the power revenue using just 50 per cent of the total available units.

Air

Goa is connected by flights to Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Cochin. Recently, some International flights to Gulf countries have been introduced. International charter flights land in Goa from different countries like UK, Germany, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

Railways

Goa is connected by Konkan Railway to Mumbai, Mangalore - Kerala. The existing Vasco-Miraj has been converted into broad guage, which has facilitated direct rail journey from Goa to New Delhi. Goa is connected through South Central Railway to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc.

Road

Goa is connected by road to all the major towns in India. But services are available to Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Mangalore, Kolhapur and Hyderabad. National Highways NJ4A, NH 17 pass through Goa.

Shipping and Handling

Goa is not a land-locked state. The Mormugao Harbour, a general-purpose cargo berth, situated in the port town of Vasco-da-Gama, handles local and international maritime cargo traffic. It is strategically linked by rail and road to the rest of India and occupies a prominent position as India's premier iron-ore exporting port. Over 23 million tonnes of iron-ore (about 39% of the total iron ore export from India) is exported annually through it to China, Japan, Korea and some European countries.

Telecommunication

Goa is well connected on a national and international Telecom network hub. In addition to BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) - the back-bone provider owned by the government of India, private players like Reliance, Tata Teleservices, Airtel etc, offer various telecom services, wireless voice and mobile internet. A number Broadband and dial-up connectivity options are available, including satellite link, infrastructure for setting up VPN's, Video Conferencing and Voice telecom.

Thrust Areas

• Pharmaceuticals, Drugs and Biotech Industries
  
• Food processing and Agro based Industries
  
• IT and IT-enabled services
  
• Eco tourism/Heritage tourism/Adventure tourism/Event tourism/Medical
  
• Tourism
  
• Entertainment Industry

Major industries

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is an important potential area for investment. Biotechnology is a knowledge intensive area and requires a high level of coordination among various disciplines such as life sciences, chemical and design engineering.

Keeping in view the strengths and advantages of the state, the biotechnology policy of the state is directed towards the development of the following sectors:

Agriculture

• Mass propagation of locally important horticulture and medicinal plant species.
  
• Mushroom Cultivation
  
• Bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides
  
• Organic farming
  
• Transgenic crops

Healthcare

• Vaccines
  
• Therapeutics
  
• Diagnostics
  
• Drug Delivery Systems
  
• Isolation of bio active molecules from native herbs
  
• Contract research and manufacturing
  
• Animal healthcare products

Industrial Biotechnology

• Fermentation of beverages, bakery and dairy products
  
• Nutraceuticals and health food supplements
  
• Bioenergy

Environmental Biotechnology

• Bioremediation
  
• Phytoremediation
  
• Bio-waste conversion and management

Bio-resource utilization

• Inventorisation, mapping, moleculer characterization and bio prospecting.

Bio-informatics

• Genomics, drug-designing, data mining, etc.

Bio services

• Contract Research
  
• Contact Manufacturing
  
• Bioinstrumentation

Marine Biotechnology

• Isolation and cultivation of elite marine organisms for value added products.

Information Technology

IT and ITES industry is very well suited to Goa owing to the industry's non-polluting nature and the fact that it makes only conservative demands on precious resources such as land, electricity and water, etc. Goa is well placed to move towards being a knowledge economy. The Government of Goa firmly believes that information technology is the key to enhancing the welfare of the citizens of Goa as IT can create employment opportunities for an increasing for an increasing proportion of the population in variety of diverse sectors.

The following incentives for investment in IT sector:-

• Goa industry incentive scheme

  All incentives made available under the industrial policy 2003 to the prospective industries intending to invest in Goa, shall also be applicable to IT and ITES units registered with ITG.

• Facilitation of entry of major players

  This will be provided to industrial houses among the top twenty companies as per NASSCOM annual listing, that intend to open branches or campuses in Goa.

• Hardware industry

  Hardware manufacturing is a priority sector for the government. Goa Goa is well suited for hardware manufacturing industry as it is endowed with with a very good harbor facility.

• Establishment of SEZ

  Government shall declare an IT park as SEZ (Special Economic Zones), which would further enable conducive atmosphere for rapid growth of IT/ITES Industry.

• Business Incubation

  The government will assist incubation of technology-based start-ups for products and services giving Goa a strategic advantage.

• Incentive for employment to locals
  
  Employment incentive to unit @ Rs. 15,000/- per employee per annum with maximum amount of Rs. 75.00 lakhs per year in one unit (for a period of 2 years starting from the date of operation).
  
  
• Reimbursement of stamp duty

  All registered IT/ITES units that purchase or lease and/or building in the notified IT park or industrial estates operated by the GIDC will be reimbursed the entire amount paid by the unit towards stamp duty.

• Higher FAR for building housing IT/ITES units

  Building located in notified IT parks will be permitted a FAR of 150.

• Availability of quality power

  The government will ensure a reliable power supply to IT/ITES units located within notified IT parks. Necessary Investment will be made in the distribution network to ensure reliability and quality of power in the IT park. IT/ITES units/companies shall be exempt from the purview of statutory power cuts.

• Exemption from the application of specific acts

  Registered IT/ITES units, except those that are engaged in manufacture of hardware equipment will be exempted from the application of Goa Pollution Control Act. The IT/ITES units shall be facilitated to operate 365 by 24 by 7.

• Incentives to promote research activities

  The government will provide grants and other benefits to units that wish to undertake activities relating to research in cutting edge technologies, particularly in advanced telecommunications area. The proposals for such grants to a maximum of Rs. 10 lakh will be considered buy the government.

• Outstanding contribution awards

  Registered IT/ITES units that have completed 5 years of operation in the state will be considered for grant of one " outstanding contribution award" of Rs. 10 lakh each year in each category on the basis of objective criteria published by the government.

• Reimbursement of certification charges

  Government will reimburse actual charges or Rs. % lakhs, whichever is less for certification for ISS/ISO 9000, SEI-CMM level 5,e-SCM level 3.

• Incentives to training institutions
  
  Will be available to training centres/institutes who have successfully trained the candidates in the communication/soft skills and thereby have been able to place them in reputed IT/ITES companies for employment.
  
  
• IT industry to be notified as public utility/essential services

  IT/ITES units/companies and It hardware industry shall be notified as a public utility/ essential service under the relevant laws.

• Allocation of Land

  Government would establish IT park at a suitable location and make the land available to IT players wanting to come to Goa at suitable rate guided by the final cost to the government including development cost, if any, and market rate.

• Rebate in power tariff and applicability of industrial category tariff.
  
  
• Subsidy on power and water

Tourism

Goa has emerged as an important tourism destination in the country both for domestic and foreign tourists because of its positive tourism profile in the form of natural scenic beauty, golden and silvery sands, manmade monuments, springs, lakes and waterfalls. A blend of the eastern and western culture, very friendly and hospitable people make Goa a veritable tourist paradise. Tourism is a major economic activity of Goa and has made substantial contribution to the economic development of the state in terms of employment generation and valuable foreign exchange earnings to the nation.

Tourism has emerged as a focal point for development in the state. The innovative marketing strategies to project Goa as an all time destination for tourism has started giving better results. The slogan " Go Goa 365 days on a holiday" has become a known brand throughout the world, thereby attracting large number of tourists. The state has made an initiative to forge public-private partnership for the promotion of tourism by instituting a corpus fund.

Investment Incentives

Investment Incentives as under the New Industrial Policy (2003)

The following incentives/subsidies have been proposed:

• Employment Subsidy: This subsidy is an innovative concept of supporting sustainable employment of local youth. The concept lays great stress on generation of employment and not on capital deployed. It also takes into consideration the fact that employment retained is employment created.
  
• Capital Contribution Scheme: This scheme is designed to support local entrepreneurs, promote industrial units to manufacture goods and units in tourism sector, except hotels and resorts
  
• Share Capital to Self Employed/ local entrepreneurs
  
• Interest Subsidy Scheme
  
• Certification/ Patenting Incentive
  
• Scheme to Encourage consumption of local raw materials
  
• Preferential Purchase Incentives for SSIs

Investment Incentives as according to IT Policy (2005)

Goa is ideally suited for setting up IT and ITES industry. The state enjoys the advantage of high literacy rate (83%) and has a large pool of technical and English speaking population. All incentives made available to all the prospective industries intending to invest in Goa, shall also be applicable to the IT and ITES units registered with ITG.

The following additional incentives will be provided to the IT industry:

• Units employing local youth would get employment incentive at the rate of US$ 324.405 per annum per employee, with a maximum of Rs 75 lakh (US$ 0.162214 million) per unit per annum for the first two years.
  
• There will be stamp duty reimbursement on land or building purchased in notified IT park or industrial estates operated by the State-owned Goa Industrial Development Corporation.
  
• The Government also plans for "special treatment" for investment proposal in IT/ITES industry exceeding US$ 10.8161 million or promising to generate more than 1,000 jobs in case of IT and 1,500 jobs in case of ITES.
  
• The State's IT policy 2005 released recently also promises a 25-per cent subsidy on power consumption for two years, 25 per cent capital subsidy on in-house backup power plant, with a maximum of US$ 21680.75 and 25 per cent subsidy on water consumption for five years.
  
• Besides, the industry would be exempted from application of certain Acts such as the Factories Act 1948 and The Minimum Wages Act 1948.
  
• In terms of e-education, the project would include setting up of computer centres in each middle school and college and university curriculum in technical courses would be modified to focus on IT.

Policy Framework

Industrial Policy

The industrial policy document draws on the strengths of the State and seeks to provide for the first time a clear and unambiguous direction for industrial growth. It is a document for the promotion of sustained, environment-friendly industrial growth.

Mission of the policy

The Mission of the Industrial Policy is to ensure accelerated Industrial Development, catalyze Economic Growth, ensure balanced Regional Growth, protect Environment and above all create sustainable Employment to local youth of the State.

Objectives of the policy

• Promote industries specifically identified as 'Thrust Areas'.
  
• Promote industries, which would consume locally available raw materials, have consumption pattern within the State and neighbouring areas.
  
• Develop Goa as the 'Export/Import Hub' and Encourage export oriented Industries.
  
• Develop self-employment opportunities for the local youth especially in rural and semi urban areas.
  
• Promote and encourage the agro-based industries to give a boost to the rural economy.
  
• Promote and encourage development of handicraft products to give boost to local artisans.
  
• Create a healthy climate for the growth and promotion of small-scale and cottage industries.
  
• Promote and encourage the process of Technological upgradation/ automation in the existing units as well as new industries so that need of migrant labour is gradually reduced, thereby arresting the influx of migrant labour.
  
• Create cluster development centres in rural areas around which traditional livelihood earning professions can develop and thrive.
  
• Encourage industries which can convert existing and generated industrial waste such as mining rejects, slag etc., into useful products.
  Encourage participation of women entrepreneurs in the industrial development of the State.
  
• Ensure balanced growth to address regional economic and social disparities in the State.
  
• Encourage promotion of all such industries that are environment friendly and do not indulge in wasteful consumption of resources.
  
• Facilitate revival and rehabilitation of sick industrial units by devising suitable schemes.
  
• Promote Research and Development (R&D) to enable the industry to have access to state of art technology.
  
• Encourage the participation of Industry Associations in decision making process and support their initiatives in promoting industrial development.
  
• Encourage artistic talents amongst local youth.

Full text of the policy

Information technology policy 2005

Goa has an ideal advantage to make the state an attractive destination for attracting software and hardware companies and even promote local IT companies. It has good infrastructure for promoting IT.

The IT/ ITES industry is extremely suited to Goa owing to the industry's inherently non-polluting character and the fact that it makes only conservative demands on precious resources such as land, electricity and water. The government is keen to encourage the IT/ITES industry in the state in a big way. The government firmly believes that information technology is the key to enhancing the welfare of the citizens of Goa as IT can create employment opportunities for an increasing proportion of the population in a variety of diverse sub-sectors.

Full text of the policy (.pdf)

Biotechnology Policy

The mission of the biotechnology policy is to ensure accelerated growth in all areas of this sunrise sector such as education, research and economic sectors covering healthcare, agriculture, industry, services, environment management and employment generation so as to bring the state to a position of pre-eminence which it has been occupying in other sectors of social and economic growth. Therefore, the policy document identifies the factors required to ensure such growth and enumerates the steps to be taken by all the stakeholders including the government in its various departments related to biotechnology such as education, agriculture, health, science and technology, environment and Industry; Institutions of higher learning such as the universities and research institutions, the industry, institutions of local self and Government at village level, farmers and the regulatory agencies. It is envisaged that the public-private partnership would play an increasing role in promoting the growth of the sector.

Full text of the policy

Major multinationals operating in Goa

Useful Web Links

Official Website of Government of Goa

Goa industrial Development corporation

Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry