 "Bhajanlal Sharma, Rajasthan CM")
Trade bodies in Rajasthan requested the state to tweak policies like the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme (RIPS) and Mukhyamantri Laghu Udyog Protsahan Yojana (MLUPY) to make the state investor-friendly.
In the RIPS policy, investors get subsidies on state goods and services tax (SGST), electricity fee, land tax, stamp duty, etc.
The MLUPY scheme provides concessional bank loans to facilitate establishment of enterprises in the state and create employment opportunities.
A delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Rajasthan, met the state’s Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant in Jaipur.
“Issues related to the industrial development of the state, power, land, RIPS, renewable energy, and ease of doing business were discussed during the meeting,” said a CII office bearer.
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Pant requested the delegation to come up with suggestions to make Rajasthan an industry and investment-friendly state.
Also, a delegation of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) met Ajitabh Sharma, principal secretary, industries & commerce, Rajasthan. The delegation, led by Tushar Sogani, chairman, Rajasthan State Development Council (RSDC), requested Sharma to look into the existing RIPS policy.
During the meeting, Sogani pointed out that interest benefits under RIPS were available on term loans but not on working capital loans. “There was a strong need to include the latter,” he said.
Schemes such as RIPS and MLUPY were not applicable for traders who contribute in employment and SGST at large, the delegation noted.
The Assocham delegation urged the principal secretary to consider starting similar schemes for traders too.
The delegation also requested for industry-wide awareness programs about the schemes. It said website links should be developed where stakeholders can identify benefits for planned investment.
It also requested that the warehousing sector be covered under the preview of industries. Besides, ??RIICO should develop warehousing parks in Jaipur.
Prem Biyani, executive president of All Raj Trade & Industries Association (ARTIA), told Business Standard, “Though we have not met any government official in the recent past, our request to state is primarily aimed at creating agriculture and milk processing clusters in 352 panchayat samiti headquarters of Rajasthan. There should be a minimum of 100 units in a cluster where processing and value addition in agricultural and dairy products could take place.”
Biyani added that it should be ensured that a minimum of 10 people get employment in a unit. He said a clear policy should be brought to promote rural tourism and develop places of tourist importance in every panchayat samiti area.
