Assam to dole out incentives to lure investment

To attract big ticket investments, the Assam government is planning to dole out additional incentives to projects whose investment size would be at least Rs 100 crore or would be generating minimum of 1,000 direct employment.

Assam’s industry minister, Pradyut Bordoloi, said the state government would soon notify a ‘high power committee’ to suggest the state government additional incentives, apart from those offered under the state and central industrial policies, that could be given to mega projects on case to case basis.

He said project with large fixed capital investment with a minimum of Rs 100 crore or generating a minimum of 1,000 regular employment shall be given ‘mega project’ status in the state. The government will also constitute a committee which would be tasked to award ‘mega project’ status to projects.

All such project proposals would be submitted to the department of the industrial units directly with supporting documents like project report, company registration, etc or as prescribed under the policy. The proposal would be examined by a team of officials of Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and submit its report for approval of the committee constituted to award mega project status.

Bordoloi said while calculating the fixed capital investment the cost towards interest during construction and margin money for working capital shall be excluded, added the minister.

The unit has to submit details of the fixed capital investment made in the unit within four months to the department for the date of going into commercial production.

The documents would be examined by the department and on examination, if it is found the unit failed to invest minimum of Rs 100 crore or to generate direct employment for at least 1,000 persons, the unit would be required to refund the additional incentives provided as well as surrender the excess land allotted by the government to the unit. However, the unit would continue to avail benefits as provided under the state and central industrial policies, said Bordoloi.

The government, said Bordoloi, would not encourage reckless conversion of productive agricultural land for industrial purposes. However, he said, the government would “endeavour” to identify and designate degraded, low lying, waste land or agriculturally non-productive land or land where agricultural output is minimal or land lying deserted as a “prospective industrial area”.

To meet the future requirement of land for industrial investment, the Assam government also has plans to convert the land presently lying unutilised under the closed or liquidated state public sector undertakings (PSUs) into industrial growth centres all over the state.