Industrialists resent non-disbursal of subsidy

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 9

Entrepreneurs of the border districts in the state are irked with the SAD-BJP government over inordinate delay in non-disbursal of capital subsidy of about Rs 12 crore under the Industrial Policy 2003.

General secretary of the Textile Manufacturers Association, Hardit Singh Makhni, said many claimants of the subsidy had now approached the Supreme Court to seek justice.

There are about 121 claimants for capital subsidy from Amritsar and Tarn Taran and the rest belong to Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Ferozepur districts.

Early release of funds would have helped these industrialists to compete with their counterparts in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, who are better placed due to extension of tax holiday.

He doubted the sincerity of the coalition government in promoting industry in the state when it deliberately failed to honour its commitments made in its industrial policy over a decade ago.

They maintained that the government was investing over Rs 7 crore in raising a new entry gate to the city on GT Road from Jalandhar side when one gate already exist at some distance. However, when it comes to aiding the existing industry, it does not have enough money, he added.

Makhni said a single bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in its decision on May 20, 2011, announced its verdict in favour of industrialists.

However, the state government appealed against the decision in the double bench of the High Court.

A leading industrialist Kamal Dalmia recalled that a delegation of entrepreneurs from the border region met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in Chandigarh on September 6, 2012.

“Sukhbir instructed the then Principal Secretary, Industry, AR Talwar, to withdraw the appeal. A month later, they again contacted Talwar but nothing came out,” he said.

He said after agriculture, textile was the second largest employment providing sector. Instead of bolstering it into an engine of growth, the government was ignoring it, said Dalmia.