The much-awaited guidelines for the “Special Integrated Industrial Promotion Policy 2008 for Hilly and Remote Areas of Uttarakhand” are ready and have been approved by Chief Minister B C Khanduri.
After months of delaying, the government will now issue the new guidelines in a day or two, to fix power rates, among other things.
The guidelines came amid sharp criticism of the government for not promoting the new hill policy, which promises to a package to attract investments, complete with a slew of sops for 10 years.
“The new guidelines are ready and have been approved,” said Industry Secretary P C Sharma.
The hallmark of the new industrial policy, which came into force on April 1 this year, is that it doles out special power tariff rebates up to 100 per cent. It is for the first time that the government has announced both industrial and power policies together so that they complement each other, experts said.
Under the new policy, the remote and hilly areas of the state have been categorised in groups A and B with incentives in the former higher than the latter.
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Projects with investments more than Rs 5 crore will now be classified as mega projects. Earlier this status was accorded to only those projects having investments more than Rs 50 crore under the 2003 industrial policy.
When contacted, Sudhir Nautiyal, additional director, industries, said the department would launch a series of workshops and interactions with entrepreneurs to attract investments in the hills once the new guidelines were issued.
The government had received investment proposals worth Rs 350 crore in this regard, Nautiyal said.