Competing states are driving India

Patting his NDA government on the back, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said competitive federalism is driving states to rush in with reforms and compete with each other to woo investors.
Inaugurating the fourth edition of the three-day global investors' meet, Invest Karnataka 2016 in Bengaluru, he said competitive federalism has allowed India to do comparatively well and survive even in the midst of a global slowdown.
He said India's economy is not affected, despite falling prices of crude oil, steel and commodities.
“We are already on higher growth and a more stable foot ing. But the challenge lies in how strong we emerge on the global economic scenario using this situation, and this is possible only if the Centre and all state governments work together in the right spirit of competitive federalism,“ he added.
Assuring complete support from the Centre to Karnataka in its growth story, Jaitley said among all the states, he sees great potential for Karnataka to grow 2-3% faster than the country's GDP growth rate.
“One of the best things that happened to Karnataka in the past two to three decades was that even in the age of regulated economy, some wisdom dawned on this country and we decided to leave the IT sector alone. Free from any interference of the government, this sector prospered and went on to put India on the world map,"Jaitley added.
Karnataka has the natural advantage of being rich in natural resources and blessed with good weather, talented human resources and world-class institutions of learning, besides the inclination of the people to learn and innovate.
With startups growing in the state and a lot more potential in aerospace, the state should focus on manufacturing to register a higher growth rate, Jaitley said.
“Manufacturing is where jobs are... If we are able to focus on this sector, the state can exploit this potential and convert Karnataka into a destination for investment and faster growth. I strongly believe that every rupee that goes into Karnataka, is an investment in India's growth,"he added.