Industry rues delay in release of Central financial incentives

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, June 20

The slow pace of the release of  financial incentives under the 2002 central industrial package have left the beneficiaries high and dry. 

Key incentives such as the Central investment and transport subsidies involve lengthy clearances and it takes several months  to get the claims approved. Once approved,  an investor has to wait for the receipt of adequate funds from the Centre and this takes several years. 

 The Industries Department has recently received an amount of Rs 13 crore from the Central Government to be disbursed to the beneficiaries. Two installments of Rs 14 crore each were received earlier this year, which helped the department bringing down the pendency of the approved cases. 

However, there are still 20 cases whose pre-audit for the claims is yet to be done. The central investment subsidy was available to industrial units till March 2017. The pendency rate for the transport subsidy was much higher. The claims for the subsidy are approved by a state-level committee, headed by the Secretary, Industries. 

Dinesh Sharma, senior vice-president of Ambuja Cements Limited, said his company had received 

Rs 17 crore as the first installment of the transport subsidy after the intervention of the court. An amount of Rs 32 crore,  whose  claim  was approved months ago, was yet to be received. He added that the inordinate delay in the release of the subsidy had defeated the purpose of  the central financial package extended to the beneficiaries. 

Director, Industries, Rajesh Sharma, admitted that the subsidy of several crores was yet to be released. However, whatever amount the department had been receiving, it was being released to the beneficiaries.