Need to ensure ease of doing business, says Phd chamber

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 7

A delegation of the Phd Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Uttarakhand Chapter) met Chief Minister Harish Rawat here today and gave suggestions to him about the growth of the industry in the state. The delegation was led by its national president Mahesh Gupta, chairman and managing director of Kent RO Company.

Gupta said to attract new investments, the state government must focus on ease of doing business. There was a need of an enabling single window system and little tuning up of the existing system.

He said road permits were not required for the manufacturing units in the state as these constrains the movement of goods and hampers productivity. By removing road permits for the manufacturing units, the government could instill faith in the industry and there would be no revenue loss in the process. He said the government must facilitate 24X7 electricity supply to the industry for unhampered production. There should also be an exit policy, he added.

The Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) should ease the policy for load reduction, disconnections and refund especially for seasonal businesses such as hotels. These businesses should be allowed load reduction in the off season. Gupta said the investment in the Indian Industry was coming at a much faster pace and those states would be benefited which provides an industry-friendly environment. Unfortunately, in Uttarakhand many units either cutting down their operations or planning to shift due to lack of ease of doing business.

The Chief Minister expressed concern at the business environment in the state and assured the delegation that the government would work towards providing an enabling industry-friendly environment. The government had set a target to bring the state to the fifth position on the ease of doing business index by the middle of this year.

The delegation comprised SP Kochhar, chairman, PHD Chamber Uttarakhand, Verendra Kalra, co- chairman, PHDCCI Uttarakhand, Anil Taneja, regional director, PHDCCI, and Harendra Garg, chairman, PHDCCI-SIDCUL Manufacturers Association.

Mahesh Gupta extended support for providing healthy and safe water to people in the hills by donating gravity-based water purifiers in select villages where the problem of contaminated water was critical.