Baddi II coming up

Falling short of space in Himachal Pradesh's fastest-growing industrial zone of Baddi, the state government is in the final stages of acquiring a huge tract of land in the adjoining area.

"Due to a tax holiday announced by the central government three years ago there has been a great rush to set up industrial units in Baddi. So we are in the process of acquiring 400 bighas (one bigha is 14,400 sq feet) of land to expand Baddi," said the state Industries Minister Kuldeep Kumar.

"This decision was taken in the last state budget, and we are now hopeful of finally acquiring this land, which we will further sell to upcoming industrial units," Kumar said.

At a meeting held here over the weekend, the industries minister also welcomed the country's automobile sector to set up manufacturing units in Himachal.

"We have written to leading automobile companies and have already got a response from some," he said.

"The first to respond was Tata Motors. Top officials of the company recently met us and showed keen interest in setting up shop in the state," he added.

Sonalika has already entered the state by manufacturing automobiles by notably producing its mult-utility Rhino Rover vehicle. "Sonalika is making an investment of Rs 200 crore in the first phase in the state," the Industries minister said.

He said the industrial boom could further spread if the fast growing automobile sector companies also entered the state in a big way to avail the Central industrial package which is to end next year.

He clarified, "But 100 per cent rebate on excise duty for industrial units will contnue till 2013. The income tax and capital tax subsidy of 15 per cent up to Rs 30 lakh would also go in till 2013."