Policy on micro, small, medium enterprises soon: Agnihotri

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 29

A mega investors’ meet where renowned industrial houses from the country and abroad will participate will be held at Baddi in November. This was announced by Industries, Labour and Employment Minister Mukesh Agnihotri while addressing a one-day conclave on the MSME organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) at Baddi today.

He said they were hopeful of alluring big industrial houses to invest in the state through this meet. He said the state would soon formulate a policy for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) which comprise 95 per cent of the state’s industries.

“The state government has liberally extended various sops to the industry and the Chief Minister had fulfilled all budgetary announcements made this year within a month’s time,” he said.

Agnihotri directed local MLA Ram Kumar Choudhary to coordinate between investors and truck unions to sort out pending issues in an amicable manner.

In a bid to facilitate investors, an online portal for obtaining online clearances would soon be put in place by the Industries Department and this would be granted clearances within 10 days, he said. He said the portal would also display availability of land in various industrial areas.

Agnihotri said 10 districts of the state would be developed as specific industrial clusters with the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) and Kala Amb areas being developed as pharmaceutical and packaging clusters.

He urged investors to disseminate information about the facilitative industrial ambience to their counterparts in other states to help attract investment.

He said the policy of “Industry by Invitation” had helped draw good investment and major projects like a mega tool room, bulk drug park, etc, being developed in the BBN would also facilitate investors from the neighbouring states.

He said the state government would soon advertise posts of boiler inspectors in the factories as this work was presently undertaken by the private sector.

Earlier, Doon MLA Ram Kumar Choudhary demanded that at least 2,500 bigha should be earmarked for setting up a bulk drug park in the BBN. He said infrastructure projects worth Rs 100 crore were being executed in the BBN by the state government and investors were being extended maximum facilities.

Commissioner, Industries, Amit Kashyap said the MSME sector comprised major chunk of investment worth Rs 13,000 crore in the state Sanjay Khurana, Chairman, CII, gave a presentation about the problems plaguing the MSME sector.

Meanwhile, Agnihotri today laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 3.54 crore in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area. He laid the foundation stone of a housing colony for the staff of the Single Window Clearance Authority which will be completed with an outlay of Rs 1.06 crore.

He also laid the foundation stone of a Rs 2.25-crore road which will provide connectivity to the upcoming technology development park at Bhatoli Kalan. The foundation stone of a Rs 23-lakh entrance gate of the Model Industrial Area at Lodhi Majra was also laid by the minister.

Agnihotri said the state government was trying to make the youth self-sufficient and investment worth Rs 12,571 crore had been made in the tenure of the present government. “As many as 247 industrial units which would employ 24,760 youth have been opened and as many as 27,000 youth had been given jobs through various employment fairs organised in the state,” he added.