Uttarakhand allots land at industrial estates

Many beneficiary companies in the SME sector are from NCR.

The State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (SIDCUL) today said it has issued final allotment letters for new units and expansion programmes in the key industrial estates of the hill state. The major beneficiaries in the allotment of plots are companies from the National Capital Region (NCR), which includes Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida.

According to official sources, nearly 57 small companies from Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad have been allotted 1,000 sq metre plots each at Haridwar and Pantnagar industrial estates. The move follows the clearance of nearly 100 industrial plots by a high-powered committee in Uttarakhand on December 22, which include top companies like ITC, HUL and Sterlite.

The committee, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister BC Khanduri, cleared the proposals, which were invited by the SIDCUL in July this year.

All these companies were given land under the new allotment policy recently formulated by the government for Haridwar, Pantnagar, Kotdwar and Selaquie industrial areas, which are being developed by the SIDCUL. In the allotment process, the companies were kept in three broad categories.

In the first category, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were given preferences with 25 percent of land being reserved for them. The main rush for the proposals was for Haridwar integrated industrial estate. In view of the heavy rush, the committee tried its best to accommodate the maximum number of companies in the final allotment.

In the second category, nearly 6 industries were given approximately 2 acres of land at Haridwar. In the third category, the big companies like HUL were given preference as the investments were heavy.

Nearly, 18 investment proposals were also cleared for the Pantnagar industrial estate. Top companies like Delta are among the beneficiary at Pantnagar. Besides this, two companies each were given land at Kotdwar and Selaquie.

With the special industrial package coming to an end on March 31, 2010, the government seems to be in a hurry to generate more revenue and create maximum employment opportunities. These companies are also being given assurance that efforts would be mounted to get the package extended for three more years.