Infrastructure problems hit Parwanoo business

Parwanoo, the first industrial town of Himachal Pradesh set up in 1975, to begin industrialisation in the state, has not gained much from the tax incentives offered to the new units setting foot in the state.

The state has been able to attract an investment of over Rs 16,000 crore since January 2003, when the package was announced by the Central government. Parwanoo got proposal worth Rs 400 crore during this period.

The topography of the town is a major constraint and the scope for big units is limited.

Parwanoo has about 450 medium and small units. The units offer employment to about 10,000 people. The town faces an acute problem of housing, and so workers shuttle everyday between Parwanoo and surrounding areas.

According to the president of the Parwanoo Industries Association, Alok Sharma, "The cost of water in Parwanoo is Rs 20 per kilo litre, which is one of the highest water tarrif rates in the country. This is forcing units to pay through their nose."

He told Business Standard the Housing Board supplied water and was running at 15 per cent efficiency and so the cost was high.

Due to the exorbitant cost of water, food-processing units had not come up in the region, and a few units had shifted to other parts of Himachal.

Sharma said three state government agencies""the Housing Board, the Municipal Corporation and the Town and Country Planning""had a collective responsibility for the maintenance of civic amenities. But there was a total lack of coordination between them. So the industrial area was suffering.

Parwanoo has made a substaintial contribution to the industrial development of Himachal Pradesh in the last two decades but has now been over-shadowed by the Baddi-Barottiwal-Nalagrh belt, which falls in District Solan. Many multinational companies have put up their units in this belt due to the availability of land otherwise.

Out of the total investment of Rs 792 crore that has actually materialised since the package was announced, Rs 604 crore has been invested in the district of Solan, about Rs 155 crore in the district of Sirmour (Kala Amb and Ponta Sahib) and about 45 crore in Parwanoo.

District Solan has been able to draw about 1,830 units (1,430 small units and 400 large and medium-size units) but Parwanoo has been able to draw only about 170 small and medium units.

District Solan offers employment to about 40,000 persons and the officials of the Himachal government expect that about 150,000 people will get employment after all approved projects commence operations.