Sharma to make a case for industry's green worries

Meets environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan today; is also expected to take up some of the environment issues under draft manufacturing policy.

Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma is meeting environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan tomorrow to discuss India Inc’s concerns over a number of stalled projects due to environmental issues.

Sharma is also expected to take up some of the environment-related issues under the draft National Manufacturing Policy in view of the environment ministry’s objections to some of the provisions earlier.

Apparently, the Indian industry had objected to the environment ministry’s intervention in some of the big-ticket projects that had halted the government’s development agenda and also resulted in declining foreign direct investments, officials in the commerce ministry told Business Standard.

The environment ministry has been accused time and again of stalling some large-scale projects that has not only irked domestic investors but have also shaken the confidence of foreign investors. The government is also concerned with an impending slowdown in the manufacturing sector and industrial production.

Sharma has been meeting captains of the Indian industry to allay fears and project India as the most preferred destination to do business. India Inc also feels the country’s archaic land acquisition policy has turned out to be one of the biggest hurdles for investment.

The commerce ministry is also instrumental in bringing out a National Manufacturing Policy, in which it has proposed the creation of national manufacturing and investment zones (NMIZs) that would be developed as integrated industrial townships having world-class infrastructure.

Under the then minister Jairam Ramesh, the environment ministry had objected to the creation of NMIZ as that entails acquisition of large tracts of land.

According to the draft manufacturing policy, granted an in-principle approval by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an NMIZ would normally have an area of at least 5,000 hectares. The state governments would be responsible for selection and acquisition of the land. In some states, where land is in short supply, an NMIZ could be set up with a minimum of 2,000 hectares.

NMIZs are proposed to be specifically delineated for the establishment of manufacturing facilities for domestic- and export-led production, along with associated services and infrastructure. The processing area may include one or more special economic zones, industrial parks, warehousing zones and export-oriented units.