 "Chhattisgarh designs new policy to revive sick industries")
The state cabinet has approved the draft proposal tabled by the industry department. The process of notification of the new policy is underway. The special promotion policy 2016 for sick and closed units will remain effective till October 2019.
“The new policy for the sick and closed industries would help in drawing investment that would, in turm, help generate employment, besides yielding revenue to the state government,” Chief Minister Raman Singh said. The state government had identified 97 such units.
Once the notification is issued, the new policy will come to the public domain. A senior official in the industry department explained its salient features. The backbone of the new policy is to encourage banks and financial institutions to service sick units and provide a rehabilitation package.
The new policy offers registration and stamp duty exemption on the purchase of sick and closed units. Following scarcity of land against increasing demand, the state government has made a provision to use the land and assets of the sick and closed units for industrial purpose. In Chhattisgarh, the state-run Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) has been providing land to the industry on lease.
Mahesh Kakkar, President of Chhattisgarh Udyog Sangh, said the revival policy would certainly act as a breather for ailing industrial units. “The state government should focus on simplifying the land transfer process as it had been very complicated,” he said, adding that land transfer was the biggest stumbling block for selling the sick and closed unit.
Kakkar said the revival policy would be effective only if the land transfer norms were made flexible. He said the number of sick and close units in Chhattisgarh was over 200 in the state.
