Industrialists await capital subsidy from Union Govt

Many industrialists and hotel owners in Himachal, who had applied for capital subsidy under a scheme of the Union Government after 2021, are in trouble. The Union Ministry of Commerce has not released the capital subsidy to the industries and hotels in the state after 2021. The affected industrialists allege that they had planned their projects keeping in view the subsidy to be received from the Union Government.

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Sources say that the Union Government had launched a scheme for the industrial units of Himachal during the stint of the previous BJP government. Under the scheme, the industrialists were eligible for capital subsidy up to a maximum limit of Rs 5 crore or 30 per cent of their capital expenditure on raising new units. The scheme was to last till March 2022. The Union Ministry of Commerce closed the window for the scheme in March 2021 but the state Industries Department officials accepted applications under the scheme till March 2022 and processed them at their end. However, the Union Commerce Ministry did not accept the claims of the applicants, who had applied after March 2021.

CS Kapoor, general secretary of the Una Industries Association, while talking to The Tribune, said that about 1,500 people had applied for capital subsidy under the central scheme from March 2021 to March 2022. In Una district alone, 102 units had applied for capital subsidy during this period. Though the state government has processed the claims of all 1,500 units, the Union Government is yet to release the capital subsidy, he added.

Kapoor said that all industrial units, which had applied under the scheme, had planned their projects believing that they would receive capital subsidy from the Union Government. Now that the subsidy had not been released, many industrial units had accumulated non-performing assets (NPA), he added.

Kapoor said that recently, the affected industrialists of the state along with Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur had met Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal in New Delhi. The minister maintained that the scheme was closed early as the budget for it had exhausted till March 2021.

The sources said that the owners of some industrial units had moved court to claim subsidy. Meanwhile, Yunus Khan, Director Industries, said that the cases of industrialists, who had applied well within the framework for capital subsidy, had been forwarded to the Central Government. The matter of the non-payment of capital subsidy to them was being taken up with the Central Government.

Wait continues for 1,500 units

• Industrialists were eligible for capital subsidy up to a maximum of Rs 5 crore or 30 per cent of their capital expenditure
• The affected industrialists allege that they had planned their projects keeping in view the capital subsidy they thought they would get from the Union Government

Cases Forwarded to Centre

The cases of industrialists, who had applied well within the framework for capital subsidy, have been forwarded to the Central Government. The matter of the non-payment of capital subsidy to them is being taken up with the Central Government. Yunus Khan, Director Industries