Modi likely to open investor meet at Dharamsala in Nov

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 8

The Global Investor Meet, scheduled to be held in Dharamsala next month, is expected to be a star-studded event with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur confirming their presence.

The two-year-old BJP regime in the state is upbeat as Modi is likely to inaugurate the meet on November 7. Home Minister Amit Shah has confirmed his presence on November 8.

Himachal is targeting an investment of Rs 85,000 crore in the core areas like power, industry, tourism, health and wellness, education, agriculture-horticulture and housing. Offering several concessions and incentives to investors, Himachal is hopeful of getting close to its target of roping in Rs 85,000-crore investment.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is likely to chair a meeting of all senior officials this week to ensure that all goes well in the event for which he has led delegations and held roadshows in India, Dubai and Germany. The progress on the ‘Him Pragati’ portal too will be reviewed to see the response that has come so far.

It is on the portal that all grievances and hurdles being faced by investors are being redressed. It is based on the feedback from investors that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department has been asked to remove the condition of obtaining the NOC for land development.

Similarly, the Information Technology Department has been asked to make some changes in its policy so that the condition of obtaining NOC from panchayat for installing a tower could be removed.

The process of permission for land purchase under Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act too has gone online. However, so far, the facility is available only in Mandi. Directions have been issued to make it online for the state before the investors meet at Dharamsala.

Several mini conclaves have been held in Shimla, Manali and other places in which MoUs have been signed worth Rs 75,000 crore, said officials. They pointed out that Himachal offered clean and salubrious environs along with cheap and uninterrupted power supply to the industry. The huge potential of almost 27,000 MW hydropower that the state has can also be utilised to its advantage.

The sudden economic slowdown has come as a major dampener for the government. However, officials feel that the incentives announced by the Finance Minister will help overcome the effect.

Sops for industry

• The process of permission for land purchase under Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act has gone online
• However, the facility is available only in Mandi
• Directions have been issued to make it online for the entire state before the meeting next month