Haryana Budget 2023-24: Rs 100 crore allocated for Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority
Deepender Deswal
Hisar, February 23
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced allocation of Rs 100 crore to the Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), which has been notified by the state government. He said the authority is expected to start functioning soon.
The HMDA has enthused local industries and institutional sectors in Hisar which are hoping that the authority will develop the town on the lines of a metro city.
HMDA set to transform town
The HMDA will transform the town in terms of economical and infrastructural development. There are several projects in the pipeline for the town. — Kamal Gupta, BJP MLA from Hisar
Industries in wait-&-watch mode
The town is now being tipped to be a counter-magnetic to the national capital. Though things are taking shape, industries are still in the wait-and-watch mode. — Randhir Gupta, Gen secy, Hisar Udyog Sangh
Body should be empowered
The mere setting up of an authority is not adequate. It should be adequately empowered for decision-making and finances. — NK Bishnoi, PROF, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology
Reacting to the Chief Minister’s announcement, Urban Local Bodies Minister Kamal Gupta, who is also BJP MLA from Hisar, said the HMDA would prove to be a milestone in the growth of Hisar. “It will transform the town in terms of economical and infrastructure development. There are several development projects in the pipeline for the town,” he said.
This will be the fifth metropolitan development authority in Haryana after those for the townships of Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and Sonepat. Randhir Gupta, general secretary of the Hisar Udyog Sangh, said Hisar needed a thrust of infrastructure development for the growth of the town. He said the Hisar town had the potential for growth for the industry, service sector and institutional development. “The town is now being tipped to be a counter-magnetic to the national capital of Delhi. There has been too much talk about the big ticket projects, including the international aviation hub, for Hisar. Though things are taking shape, industries are still in the wait-and-watch stage,” he said.
Gupta said no new industrial sector had been carved in Hisar in the last about 40 years. The existing industrial sectors 27 and 28, located on the Delhi bypass, too, have been facing infrastructural issues. “We have been pitching for the industrial cluster/hub in the vicinity of the town for a long time. But, along with growth plans for the town, the connectivity to the Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) must be ensured by adequate road and rail links,” he said. The Sangh general secretary stated that the airport would definitely be a propeller for the growth story of the town.
Narender Kumar Bishnoi, Professor, Haryana School of Business in Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, said though it was a positive step, he was waiting for the structural formation of the HMDA for more clarity. “The mere setting up of an authority is not adequate. We came to know that there is no provision for budgetary allocation in the proposed HMDA. It should be adequately empowered for decision-making and finances,” he stated.
