30 more units to invest Rs 297 cr in Himachal

With the approval of 30 more industrial units in Himachal Pradesh, the total investment has come up to Rs 7,513 crore, and thus the hill state has emerged as a top industrial destination, according to a government spokesman.

The state's single-window clearance and monitoring authority met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh yesterday and cleared the 30 units involving an investment of Rs 297 crore.

Those cleared include Paras Pharmaceuticals, Reckitt Benckiser, Emami & Glenmark, Cello International, Empire Home Appliances, and Landis Gyr Ltd, a subsidiary of Siemon Ltd.

This was the eighth meeting of the single-window clearance monitoring authority, set up to avoid bureaucratic delays in investment. This followed the announcement of a package by the Union government early last year, involving tax holiday, power subsidies, and other benefits till 2007, in the hill state.

"So far 427 medium- and large-scale industrial projects have been cleared, involving an investment of Rs 6,296 crore," said a government spokesman.

"In addition, 3,187 units in the small-scale sector with an investment of Rs 1,217 crore have also been cleared during this period," he said. Total investment so far since January 2003 in the hill state has now gone up to Rs 7,513 crore.

Virbhadra Singh said, "We'd give priority to those industrial units that want to set up units immediately."

"At the same time, undue delay in setting up approved industrial units will be taken seriously and that may result even in a cancellation of approval," Singh said.

He stressed the need for setting up industrial development authorities in most business clusters of the state, under the Town and Country Planning Act, and to develop these industrial towns in a regulated and planned manner.