Government setting up five clusters to boost industry in Himachal Pradesh: Mukesh Agnihotri

Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Minister of Industries, Labour and Employment, Government of Himachal Pradesh, said, The state government is following a cluster-based approach to boost the industry in the state. The government is setting up five industrial clusters which include pharma, food processing and corrugated boxes clusters to name a few. The government is also keen to conduct a dialogue between the industry and the truck unions to resolve the issue of alleged monopolistic trade practices by truck unions.

He also announced that in the next month, a Single-Window Portal will become functional to grant all permissions online. Most of the departments concerned have given approval for the same, he added. The state government is also working on removing barriers for smooth movement of goods in two weeks.

The Government of Himachal Pradesh is also going to announce a policy to revive sick industrial units. The government will also initiate Rs 58 crore worth of projects for Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority within this year, Agnihotri added.

Mr Rajesh Sharma, Director Industries, Government of Himachal Pradesh, lauded CII for regularly taking up issues faced by the industry with the Government of Himachal Pradesh. This has helped the government authorities grasp the problems and challenges before the industry and come up with the solutions to help the industry grow in the state. Emphasizing that the MSME sector was not only the backbone of the industry in the state but also provides maximum employment here.

Himachal will now follow a cluster-based approach to provide all technology-related solutions. On the issue of area-based exemption after the implementation of GST, we are consulting Government of India for the same, he said.

Mr Rajesh Saboo, Chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council & Director, Phoenix Udyog Ltd, said, Even after the implementation of GST in the entire country with the objective of Single Country and single Tax, there are certain taxes in the state such as the Entry Tax, AGT & CGCR which are specific only to Himachal Pradesh. These taxes could not be subsumed in the GST, thus CII recommends State Government to abolish these taxes.

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