Himachal MP seeks central industrial package for state

Himachal Pradesh MP Pratibha Singh Friday called on union minister Anand Sharma here and requested him to sanction a central industrial package for the state till 2020.

She requested him to provide incentives for capital investment subsidy on plant and machinery, 100 percent outright excise duty exemption for 10 years from the date of commencement of production for industrial units and 100 percent income tax exemption for five years.

An official statement said the MP also requested Sharma, who also hails from Himachal, to release Rs.70 crore to the state under central transport subsidy scheme and Rs.55 crore under central capital investment subsidy for the first two quarters of 2013-2014.

Officials of the industries department said the state had approved industrial proposals worth Rs.48,000 crore in the past 10 years but got investments worth only Rs.13,000 crore.

The state got maximum investment from 2003 to 2010 when there was a special industrial package from the central government.

Most investments were in pharmaceutical, food processing, textile, packaging and light engineering sectors.