With a new government in place and loads of positives vibes around the world, the time is just right for West Bengal and other Eastern Indian states to go for an image makeover and make a strong case for themselves to the world at large, said a world famous consultant who knows India like the back of his palm.

"True, that Eastern India, for that matter West Bengal, is not as visible as the other provinces such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka - and there are many reasons for that - but I firmly believe that West Bengal can still catch up with the rest of India. If the people from this state do so well in other places, there is no reason why they cannot do well at home," said Dr Andreas Waldraff, Chairman, UBF.B GmbH, a global management consultancy firm with a focus on Indo-German business ties Germany, at the Manufacturing Conclave organised by CII Eastern in Kolkata on August 22, 2014.

Dr Waldraff, whose major clients include BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Mahindras, etc., said he would soon celebrate the "hundredth anniversary of my India visit". In his view, top-class vocational training, heavy accent on quality and R&D capability will determine how fast the State will elicit global attention and attract investments.

"It is not an easy process and there is no shortcut to it either. But the process must start now. The onus is on the domestic companies. You must combine and collaborate to launch top-class vocational training programmes. We Germans will be happy to help," he said.

The trigger must come from within. "You devise a system for yourself, organize a circle among yourselves and make a pledge that you will offer jobs to a few candidates at the end of each programme which will train young talents in all the hardcore aspects of manufacturing. This will enhance the competitiveness as a whole across the world in the long run. I strongly believe that CII can take the lead role," said Dr Waldraff.

According to him, Indian companies must stop trying to project themselves as cheap propositions. "Being cheap is misleading, and often creates negative branding. Moreover, when you take everything into account, India is hardly seen as a low-cost country after all," he said.

Mr Aloke Mookherjea, Past Chairman, CII Eastern Region & Chairman, CII Eastern Region Task Force on Innovation, stressed the need for ease of doing business. "We must quickly get our act together and get off the block and see that these sector flourish removing all the bottlenecks to revive the mining, manufacturing, MSMEs, Metals sectors in the eastern region - purportedly the key drivers of growth and employment generation," he said.

"We need effective single window mechanism and simplification of procedures. We need to simplify land acquisitions though creation of land banks, digitisation of land records and land zonings. We also need to reduce transaction cost, focus on speedy implementation of projects, incentivise MSMES and ensure overall infrastructure development in an integrated way," Mr Mookherjea said.

In his view, it is manufacturing, the key engine of economic growth, that can create many jobs for skilled, semiskilled as well as un-skilled workforce. "That explains why CII is organizing this conclave. Our main aim is to resolve issues confronting the manufacturing sector," he said.

Project delayed is growth denied. Delays give rise to disruption of work, loss of productivity, late completion of project, escalated costs, and abandonment or termination of contract. Delay in projects lead to time and cost overrun, which raises cost by even 20%, making investment decisions commercially challenging and at times unviable. Also it is not only about increasing the investment/GDP ratio, but also reducing ICOR (incremental capital/output ratio). A reduction in ICOR implies more efficient utilization of capital. ICOR has increased in recent times because of stalled projects, resulting in lower efficiency of capital usage.

Among the others who spoke at the inaugural session were Ms Smita Pandit Chakraborty, Chairperson, CII Eastern Region Manufacturing, Quality & Technology Subcommittee, and Mr D P Deshpande, Co-Chairman, CII Eastern Region Manufacturing, Quality & Technology Subcommittee.