Investors demand sick industry revival policy

BQ- Steps like not charging electricity duty and penalty or interest for delayed payment of power utility bills from sick industries till these are revived have been suggested

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, February 7

Investors are demanding a sick industry revival policy in the state.

Though the government had announced a new industrial policy in 2019, it did not include any provision to revive the hundreds of sick industries.

Sanjay Khurana, president, Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association, said the demand to chalk out a policy for the sick industry had been made again.

Taking effective steps like not charging electricity duty and penalty or interest for delayed payment of power utility bills from sick industries till these are revived have been suggested. Apart from this, deferment of SGST payable in cash post-utilisation of input tax credit for the maximum five years or till the unit is revived has also been proposed.

He added that other measures like Sarfaesi Act, insolvency and bankruptcy code as implemented under the Central Government Rules with respect to the government dues, which are due from the sick units, should be amended.

The investor were keenly awaiting the revival policy as several units were reeling under tough economic conditions. With the Union government having declined to announce any financial incentive and the Chief Minister himself stating that such a package was not expected, it remains to be seen how the sick units would get some succour.

The state Cabinet had scrapped the revival of sick medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME) units policy 2017, floated by the previous Congress government at the fag end of their tenure, soon after assuming power in February 2018. Since this policy was specially formulated to benefit steel units, which have incurred losses worth crores, it was slated to dent the state exchequer by several crores at a time when unhealthy financial position was making the going tough for the government.

Though the state government had announced a scheme for the revival of sick MSME units, no exercise has been undertaken though efforts are being made to attract fresh investments.