Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank may be taking credit for the strong growth rate of 11.3 per cent in the hill state.
But the department of industrial development, in its latest report presented in the state Assembly, has stated that the growth rate in the hill state took a sharp upswing from 9.4 per cent in 1999-2000 to 11.3 2006-07. Barring a short period between November 2000 and March 2002, when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, Congress ruled the state under the leadership of N D Tiwari for the rest of the five years. And 2003-07 was the period when industrial growth was at its best in the state, especially after the announcement of hill-based tax incentives, experts said.
Interestingly, the chief minister, who is facing a stinging Opposition attack on the issues of development and alleged scandals these days, had been repeatedly trying to blunt the criticism by claiming credit for the current 11.3 per cent growth rate in the state in his Budget speech.
“The robust industrial growth took place only during 2003-07. After that there was a slowdown in the state due to various factors like the world financial crisis,” said Pankaj Gupta, President of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand.
“It is a fact that most of the growth took place when the Congress was in power. The chief minister must not take credit for the achievements of the Congress,” said the leader of Opposition, Harak Singh Rawat.
Despite the criticism by the Opposition, Nishank continued to take credit for scores of achievements. For example, in the Budget speech, Nishank said the revenue receipts in the state in 2000-01 were Rs 2,733 crore which are not estimated to reach Rs 14,635 crore in 2011-12.
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The total industrial investments when the state was formed were Rs 5,500 crore which are now touching Rs 30,000 crore, said the chief minister.
He also stated that since 2003 when the Centre announced the industrial package in the form of tax incentives, nearly 2,500 industrial units entailing an investment of Rs 26,500 crore have been set up in the state which include top companies like Hindustan Unilever Limited, Tata Motors, Nestle, Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto.