Rajasthan aims to become a key hub for UK investments

RAJASTHAN has become such a sought-after venue for destination weddings that there is now a three-year wait for suitable locations, the state’s chief minister, Bhajanlal Sharma, said in London.

He was in the city, leading a trade delegation aimed at promoting UK investment in Rajasthan in green energy, IT, education, automotive and electric vehicles, agro food processing, tourism, healthcare, real estate, fintech, mineral extraction and infrastructure.

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Sharma invited UK businesses to attend the “Rising Rajasthan Investment Summit” in the state capital, Jaipur, from December 9-11.

Addressing a gathering in London last Thursday (17), he began on a lighter note by talking about destination weddings.

The topic is familiar to wealthy families like Gopi Hinduja’s, whose eldest son, Sanjay, married Anusuya Mahtani in Udaipur in 2015 – home to the magical Lake Palace Hotel. The wedding featured performances by stars like Jennifer Lopez. “She’s in love with me,” quipped Gopi, who had probably paid a generous fee for her appearance.

The actress Elizabeth Hurley sold the picture rights to Hello! magazine when she married the Indian businessman Arun Nayar in Jodhpur Palace in 2007. Even Nayar’s father was ejected from the premises when he was spotted with a camera in case he spoilt her exclusive deal.

Speaking in Hindi at the “Rising Rajasthan Investor Meet” held last Thursday at the St James Court Taj Hotel, Sharma said, “There are many weddings happening in Rajasthan these days. I visited South Korea, and someone there told me, ‘I want to marry in Rajasthan, but I hear there’s no venue available for three years.’ I assured them, ‘I can reduce that to a year and a half.’ They simply replied, ‘That’s fine, I’ll marry after a year and a half.’” “People around the world aspire to marry in Rajasthan.”

Rajasthan – literally, the land of rajahs – was formed in 1949 by merging the princely states of the erstwhile British empire. Many of their rulers had not been too keen on Indian independence, because they thought their privileges would be better safe[1]guarded under colonial rule. After independence, some rulers – notably Udaipur, Jaipur and Jodhpur – turned their palaces into luxury hotels to be managed by Ratan Tata’s Taj group. Others went into politics. Quite a few faded into obscurity.

The British love of Rajasthan was captured in such romantic novels as MM Kaye’s The Far Pavilions (1978). A less idyllic view of Rajasthan, as a land where women were very much second-class citizens, was offered in Mala Sen’s 2002 non-fiction book, Death by Fire: Sati, Dowry Death, and Female Infanticide in Modern India.

Several members of Sharma’s delegation pointed out that Rajasthan, with a population of 82 million, is India’s largest state with an area of 132,139 sq miles, which compares with the UK’s 94,354 sq miles and a population of 68 million. But unlike Britain, Rajasthan, with large deserts, has to cope with a shortage of water.

Sharma (centre) and deputy chief minister Diya Kumari (third from left), flanked by key delegates at the investor meet in London last Thursday

Sharma nevertheless provided an upbeat assessment of his state, with India’s third largest highway network. He said the Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor went through Rajasthan, where Nissan and Honda had set up auto plants. “From gold to iron to silver, what mineral is not available in the soil of Rajasthan?” he asked.

India’s notorious red tape bureaucracy had been stripped down: “Things get cleared in days, not months or years.”

Although Vikram Doraiswami is high commissioner for the whole of India, he gave Rajasthan an enthusiastic plug: “Everybody in the UK, when they think of India, broadly seem to think of Rajasthan. Think about your image in the UK. What India is all about: forts, palaces, tigers – Rajasthan. Sunshine – Rajasthan.”

“Beyond that, more seriously, it is also the state that has the longest and most intense connection with the key areas of interest for the future,” he went on. “By that, I mean conservation, sustainability and economic growth based on harmony with nature.

“The Rajasthani tradition has long been one of managing the environment, coping with the environment as you find it, rather than changing it for your own use, and therefore in living in harmony with nature.

“Rajasthan has therefore been a pioneer well before it was fashionable sustainable development. And today, Rajasthan is reaping the benefits of that through its extraordinary ability to leverage the sun and the wind in terms of renewable energy, in terms of its strengths in agriculture.

“When you look at a state that has a fair amount of arid area, it has been an extraordinary success story in being able to live in harmony with the earth and yet produce high quality food products.”

The Rajasthan delegation included the state’s deputy chief minister, Diya Kumari, the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last ruling Maharajah of Jaipur. As someone with a graduate diploma in fine art (decorative painting) from the Chelsea School of Arts in London, she had no difficulty expressing herself eloquently in English.

“Today, we find ourselves on the brink of a transformative chapter for Rajasthan, one defined by extraordinary growth, innovation and collaboration,” she said. “It’s time to transform our dreams into reality.

Sanjay Hinduja (left) and his bride Anusuya Mahtani in Udaipur from 2015

“We are a state that has consistently embraced innovation, from technological advancements to state of the art infrastructure. Our progressive policies have attracted substantial foreign direct investment, solidifying our position as a leading force in economic growth. Today’s roadshow will be a testament to our upcoming partnerships to explore new avenues of cooperation in sectors such as auto and auto components, renewable energy, education and skilling, tourism. And IT-enabled service projects in these sectors are designed to position our state as a leader in these industries, creating opportunities for innovation and collaboration.”

She emphasised: “We are particularly focused on three critical areas: the clean energy transition, infrastructure development and manufacturing. As India’s largest state, Rajasthan is roughly 40 per cent larger than the UK in land mass, almost the size of Germany, and is home to nearly 82 million people, a youthful and rapidly growing demographic. Yet it is not just size or numbers that define our state.

“Rajasthan is an agrarian state brimming with potential and agro and food processing. We see a tremendous opportunity for collaboration with the UK’s advanced food processing technology and expertise in supply chain management.”

She urged British universities to open branches in Rajasthan: “There’s so much potential. Education is an area which would be great if UK comes into India and collaborates. You have so many Indian students all over the United Kingdom.”

She also mentioned tourism, though not the Jaipur Literary Festival, which has attracted thousands of people to Rajasthan over the years.

“Tourism is one thing very close to my heart, and I think the UK has the most amazing tourism sector,” Kumari said. “We would like to learn so much from you.”

The difference is that the UK trades on its royalty, whereas in India Indira Gandhi, as prime minister, abolished privy purses, titles and the princely order in 1971.

Details of how the UK could invest in Rajasthan were provided by Rohit Gupta, commissioner for industries and investments, who said the visit to London was the 11th roadshow the state had held.

“Under the banner of ‘Rising Rajasthan’, we have been to Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka. The delegation was led by the chief minister, as he is leading the delegation here as well. Other delegations went to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Switzerland and Italy. We just came from Munich, and now we are in London.”

Focusing on possible ties between the UK and Rajasthan, he said: “I’ll speak why we are natural partners and our relationships go beyond just economic synergies.

“Rajasthan’s GDP has doubled in the last seven years. We now aim to double it in the next five years. The state has also seen a healthy inflow of FDI in the last five years. It has been growing exponentially. Rajasthan is powering the green energy transition in India.”