Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 (IANS): Odisha is second only to Gujarat in attracting private sector investments, industry body ASSOCHAM said Friday.

With a share of about 10.7 percent, the eastern state accounts for the second-highest share in total outstanding private sector investments, including both domestic and foreign private sectors, across India, as of June 2012, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India said in a statement here.

Of the total outstanding investments in the state worth over Rs. 11.8 lakh crore, private sector investments account for over Rs. 8.8 lakh crore, thereby registering a share of about 75 percent in the overall investments across the state, it said.

Citing a sector-specific analysis carried out by it across states, the industry body said Gujarat accounts for the highest share in the total outstanding private sector investments across India with a share of about 12.5 percent.

While, of the total outstanding investments in Gujarat worth over Rs. 14.8 lakh crore, private sector accounts for over Rs. 10.3 lakh crore, thereby registering a share of about 70 percent in the overall investments across the western state, the industry body said.

Besides, with a share of over Rs. 82.9 lakh crore, the private sector accounts for over 59 percent of the total outstanding investments across India worth over Rs. 140 lakh crore as of June 2012, it highlights.

Private sector investments account for a whopping 86.6 per cent in the total outstanding investments worth over Rs. 4.5 lakh crore in Haryana, which has a share of about 4.8 per cent in the total private sector investments made across India.

"Flow of the private investments is decided by the attractiveness of investment opportunities as they are mostly driven by profitability considerations," said D.S. Rawat, national secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing the findings of the chamber's analysis.

"Bureaucratic efficiency, infrastructure facilities, and ease of land acquisition influence the flow of private investments," said Rawat. "Tax concessions, product market conditions and exit policies are effective tools of private investment attraction."
Maharashtra (8.9 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (8.4 per cent) and Karnataka (7.2 per cent) are other states with maximum share in outstanding private sector investments across India.

But interestingly, the share of private investments in the total live investments across these three states is less than the all-India average of over 59 percent, the ASSOCHAM statement said.

Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Assam have the least share in India's total private sector investments, which is even less than one per cent, it claimed.