UP mulling freeholding industrial plots

The Uttar Pradesh government is considering declaring industrial plots in the state freehold, an official said Friday.

"Decision to make industrial plots freehold is under serious consideration of the state government. It has been a long standing demand of industries, however, various factors have to be taken into account for assessing long-term impact of this step before a final decision", principal secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development, Sanjiv Saran, said.

He was speaking at a Business-to-Government (B2G) dialogue organized by Western Chambers of Commerce and Industry, UP, at Meerut.

Saran said the state government was striving to improve environment for industrial development through various fresh initiatives. "State government's objective is to remove all kinds of impediments and resolve issues of industries," he added.

On the issue of improving doing business environment in the state, the official said that principal secretaries of all departments concerned had been asked to consult industrial associations about simplification and efficient measures required to mitigate the hindrances faced in running and setting up industries regarding issues relating to electricity, labour, value added tax, Mandi and pollution.

Moreover, he pointed out, working groups are already working on labour reforms. The departments will submit their proposals to improve the system by last week of November before the chief secretary.

He said that in all probability the new investor-friendly system with best practices would be in place by January 2015.