There is a flutter among the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in Rajasthan after getting to know that they are supposed to don ambassadors’ garb as the state government proposes. These officers are to be handed out a bizarre assignment to act as ‘Investment Ambassadors’ for the state government’s proposed ‘Rising Rajasthan’ Global Investment Summit 2024. State Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma disclosed it on September 1 in Mumbai. While sharing the details of his proposal, Sharma said that over the next two months, a high-level delegation from the State government will travel across the country and over 25 nations around the globe to attract investment.
The CM said that as part of the preparations for the Summit, IAS officers have been entrusted specific locations to ensure continuous communication with entrepreneurs. Detailing the nature of the role these IAS officers are supposed to play, he said: “These officers will maintain regular contact with representatives of foreign or inter-State companies, as well as their respective governments, until their retirement.”
These officers are supposed to visit and get expertise on the region, potential investments and trade, essentially serving as state government’s ambassadors to these regions, similar to how diplomats specialise in the affairs of foreign countries. The only difference is that these IAS officers will coordinate from Rajasthan, as the state CM revealed. The state government is said to be focusing on a multi-pronged approach to double Rajasthan’s GDP from its current $184 billion to $350 billion in the next five years, which translates to a targeted annual growth rate of 10%. And to achieve this target, the state government has identified certain sectors to focus on like renewable energy, ESDM, green hydrogen, petrochemicals, health, textile, agri-processing and tourism, as the CM pointed out.
According to him, the focus is not just on signing MoUs, but on ensuring that these agreements translate into real investments on the ground. “The early timing of the investment summit is intended to give us four years to review and execute these projects effectively,” he averred.
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