Haryana plan outlay at Rs 3,000 crore

REGION ROUND-UP

The government on Thursday finalised the annual plan for Haryana for 2005-06 at Rs 3,000 crore, at a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The plan outlay includes a one-time additional central assistance of Rs 25 crore for specific interest to the state.

Hooda said a new industrial policy had been formulated to augment infrastructure facilities to attract industries to the state. The policy, to be launched shortly, would help to generate employment opportunities in the sector.

He also requested for central support in funding land acquisition cost for the construction of Western periphery expressway and early approval of the Delhi-Gurgaon integrated rail-cum-bus transit project.

Book fair in Shimla from May 22

A week-long book fair would be organised in Shimla from May 22 by the National Book Trust in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh education department.

Chief minister Virbhadra Singh would inaugurate the fair at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, an official release said on Thursday. Many renowned publishers were expected to take part in the fair, which was being organised after a gap of five years, the release added.

MP in talks with Alstom on tourism

To increase private participation in the tourism sector and arrest the fall in the number of domestic and foreign tourists in the state, the MP government plans to hold dialogues with Alstom Power, the Commonwealth Business Council, and the Academy of Traditional art, whose trustee is Prince Charles.

The state is likely to participate in the India-UK Business Forum scheduled to be organised on June 22.

Also plans are afoot to develop, showcase and link stone-age sites like Nagda, Kaytha, and Navdatoli, which are of archaeological importance too, with places like Mohan Jodaro and Lothal (Gujrat) of the Indus Valley Civilisation era. The state government will seek the support of the Gujarat and Pakistan governments in this regard.

Alstom is likely to set up mini hydro and wind power mills in the state, where the power problem has gone out of hand.

"Chief Minister Babulal Gaur has asked the officials of the energy department to hold discussion with the company and see if people living in Gokul Gram can be ensured regular power," said Nitish Bhardwaj, chairman, MP Tourism Corporation. Alstom has does similar projects in South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Recently, Bhardwaj showcased Gwalior at the International Tourism Exchange 2005 and has proposed Salzburg be the twin city of Gwalior. Gwalior is the city of Tansen, and Salzburg is associated with Mozart, the eminent composer.

Cement plant in Himachal

Jai Prakash Associates Ltd, the flagship cement company of the Jaypee group, will shortly establish a new production plant in Himachal Pradesh to push its production capacity to 11 million tonnes while also augmenting its cement supply in Western Uttar Pradesh.

Talking to the mediapersons in Hotel Jaypee Palace in Agra on Wednesday before a company dealers' meet, Sunish Joshi, executive vice-president of the company, said the company was the fourth largest cement production company in the country while in India, it ranked at the top with a 55-60 per cent share of the total cement market in the state.

According to Joshi, the company's cement plant in Himachal Pradesh was working at its full capacity but the demand for cement in UP could not be met even partially at the present production rate so the company had decided to increase the production in this by another 7 million tonnes to cope up with the huge demand for quality cement.

He said once fully functional, the plant would augment the cement production to 11 million tonnes though the company could not hope for much profit from this venture because already the cement companies in the country were running on a "marginal profit" basis after the significant increase in the prices of raw material.

Sector strategies for J&K development

Outlining a five-point strategy for the economic development of Jammu and Kashmir, industry chamber PHDCCI on Thursday said sector-specific strategies should be formulated with long term plans, to provide commercially viable options for development projects.

The government needs to play a lead role to build up the confidence of the private investor, PHDCCI President K N Memani told reporters. The opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and the prospective opening of the Suchetgarh-Sialkot road link offers additional trade prospects, he said.

Tourism being the main stay of the state economy, PHDCCI called upon the government to focus on infrastructure development in terms of access roads, connecting flights, communication and budget hotels.

"We have proposed development of tourism hub with multipurpose activities in a secure zone like tourism estates," Memani said, adding the emphasis had to be on reviving the traditional tourist circuits.

He said the Srinagar airport should be made a cargo and charter destination. The work on construction of the railway line connecting Jammu with the Valley should be completed on priority basis and road connectivity between the major tourist destinations be improved.

Urging the PDP-led government to develop commercially viable relationship with few identified companies operating outside the state, Memani said the ties could be for consuming their range of products and services or facilitating their competitiveness in terms of sales, raw materials and energy requirements.

Nintendo plans a Revolution

The next-generation battle for the hearts and wallets of games console players is officially underway with Nintendo showing its new Revolution machine on Tuesday after Sony unveiled its PlayStation 3 and Microsoft, the Xbox 360.

Nintendo appears furthest away from launching a TV-linked console. Satoru Iwata, its president, held up a shiny black box at its press conference during the E3 video games trade show.