Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Saturday announced an industrial and financial bonanza worth Rs. 300 crore for Himachal Pradesh including extension of transportation and capital subsidy and income tax exemption for another three years.
Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CCI) here, Mr. Sharma also announced a Centrally- sponsored Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) worth Rs. 70 crore for the industrial township of Baddi.
Mr. Sharma laid the foundation stone for upgradation of facilities at pharmaceuticals and allied industries' cluster under the IIUS initiative at Baddi. This is the first project under the IIUS in the Himachal Pradesh. He also announced projects worth Rs. 129 crore by the Department of Industrial Promotion and Production (DIPP) and APEDA in 11 cities of the State. Leading multinational company, ITC Private announced, an investment of Rs. 100 crore at Baddi.
The Minister said the Central assistance will be by way of one-time grant-in-aid to the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by the cluster association. This project will be implemented by ‘Baddi Infrastructure Ltd.' which is a SPV formed for this purpose. The total cost of the project is Rs.70.54 crore. The Central grant for the project is Rs.58.20 crore. The contribution of user industries and the State Government will be Rs.7.07 crore and Rs. 5.27 crores respectively.
Mr. Sharma also announced the extension of the Central Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme which provides 1 5 per cent of investment of plant and machinery subject to a ceiling of Rs.30 lakh for a period of 10 years till January 1, 2013. He said 100 per cent income tax exemption for new as well as existing units for a period of 5 years and thereafter at 30 per cent for companies and 25 per cent for other than companies for the next five years will continue.
In a major relief for the State and hundreds of industries located there, Mr. Sharma announced that the industrial package consisting of several schemes will continue till March 6, 2013.He said the Central Excise Duty exemption which, as a result of the ‘sunset clause' introduced in the scheme by the Department of Revenue, has come to an end on March 31, 2010 had been taken up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
