Goa minister seeks 80% jobs for locals

In view of the growing number of unemployed youth in the state, Goa industry minister Luizinho Faleiro has asked all the industries to must give at least 80 per cent of the jobs to local Goans.

"We will take an undertaking from the companies in this regard," he said.

The industries in the state would have to be 'Goan friendly' and not 'Goan hostile', Faliero stressed.

Asked, from where will the trained manpower come, the optimistic Faleiro claimed, "If the industries don't get manpower, the government will provide the required personnel," adding, that the government intended to train manpower.

He further said that the government is working very hard to improve the industrial situation in the state and expressed confidence that the efforts would bear fruits, to convert Goa into an "alternative" and an "attractive" industrial destination in the country.

Besides the Food Processing Park in the Quepem taluka, Garment, Pharma and Bio-tech parks are also in the pipeline, the minister said.

On the Food Processing Park, Faleiro said that the Centre is backing the project fully and that there will be a state-of-the-art infrastructure in warehousing, refrigeration, quality control, pollution control, storage, etc.

For the proposed Garment Park, the state has already sought assistance from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, while the Pharma Park would come up at the Keri plateau, where DuPont's Nylon 6.6 plant was planned in the mid-90s.

The entrepreneur would get a tax holiday for the first five years and in the subsequent five years, only 25 per cent would be taxed.