A Rejoinder to 'Rent-a-Womb Economics'

AM has raised, in his commentary entitled ‘Rent-a-Womb Economics’ (EPW, Vol, XL, No 36), serious objections against the proposed investment of Rs 44,000 crore in West Bengal by the Salim group of Indonesia on the ground that the state government will hand over to it contiguous land to the extent of 5,100 acres for developing a number of service projects, including a technology park, a knowledge park, a hotel complex, a health park and a golf course. His main objection is that more than 5,000 acres of land, including multi-cropped land, will have to be surrendered for the proposed project, which would generate employment opportunities for merely 30,000 persons. The proposed investment will be highly capital-intensive as in terms of the package of proposals, employment of one unit of labour will entail investment of the order of roughly Rs 1.5 crore. This high capital intensity goes ill with the socioeconomic realities of the state, where the number of registered unemployed is around seven million.