Amid speculations that the much-awaited new industry policy in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be dropped, a further delay is not ruled out as the state industry minister Kailash Vijayavergiya will soon embark upon a foreign jaunt. According to well placed sources, the minister has already extended the existing Industrial Promotion Policy 2004 till December this year. Scheduled to be launched in September, none in the industry department has any clue about the new policy, which will be an overhauled version of the existing policy.
Vijayavergiya is harping on promotion of agri-processing industry in the new policy and is soon embarking on a foreign jaunt to learn planning strategy to attract investment in the sector. “The minister and team of officials will visit Australia, Singapore and Japan to study about food processing industry”, said a source, “and this will lead a further delay in the policy”.
The new policy, however, according to the first draft, will withdraw few concessions offered in the existing policy. “The sops and concessions will come in improved version, but few actions like special area development authority, which was conceived years ago, have been shelved,” the source added. State-based industry chambers have already submitted their suggestions.
During the last five years, the state government has made futile attempts to attract investment in agri-processing units; creation of agri export zones in nine commodities, new facilities to sugarcane processing, opening up mandis to private players.
It also failed to develop food parks at six different locations. “Now the government has dropped the plan of developing the parks, as they received lukewarm response from the industry,” the source added.
It is also learnt that the new policy has only deleted few portions of the existing policy and incorporated hardly few suggestions from the industry. In the past three years, after settling of political disturbances, the industry has proposed major investment in the power sector but none of the private power projects has come out of the drawing board.
Of the total proposed Rs 2.83 crore investment, only Rs 1,866 crore investment has taken shape.
