Proper industrial growth somehow remained arrested in the State for real or flimsy reasons. The urgency to remove this deficiency was felt when the question of youth unemployment came up steering into the eyes of policy planners. Though belated, they did turn their attention towards the ways and means of boosting industrial enterprise both on private and public sector. Keeping in view that the State would not be in a position to provide adequate funds needed for augmenting industrial growth and also is deficient in technical know-how of prospective industries, the Chief Minister took up the matter with the Union Ministry of Commerce. The result of those deliberations was that the State was granted five-year industrial packages that catered to various aspect of development of industrial units with financial support from the Union Ministry of Commerce. Under the previous package, which expired on June 14, 2012, the State Government claimed Rs 124 crore from the Union Government in a period of ten years.
The Union Ministry of Commerce has responded very favourably to the earnest request of the State Government for extension of industrial package for another five years which entails, among other things, financial assistance to the existing as well as proposed industrial units in the State to the tune of 296 crore rupees. By and large the Union Ministry of Commerce has agreed to all proposals of the State. The notification made by the Central Government in this behalf says that the extended package will come into effect from 14 June 2013 and remains in force for five years. It has the provision of further extension when its current term expires.
The State Government is happy with this major decision. Industrial units that come under the purview of the package are happy and satisfied looking forward to the growth of respective units to full capacity. Personal efforts made by the Chief Minister in taking up the issue with the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, and also interaction with many more agencies at the level of the Central Government has borne fruit. Entrepreneurs have to be thankful to him and his team whose continued persuasions are crowned with success.
Now that fresh blood has been transmitted into the veins of State industries, we expect the Government and the industrialists to perform to the satisfaction of the people of the State. The package carries guidelines for developing and expanding industrial units. We hope that the concerned will adhere to the norms set forth in the package and no deviation will be made. We have marked that more often than not political strings are attached to the establishment of new unites or subsidizing of sick unties to make them functional. The selection of sites for establishment of units is sometimes arbitrary and not conducive to the industrial health of the State. Complaints of favouritism have also come in occasionally. Sometimes unwanted restrictions and conditionality are imposed that hamper industrial production and efficiency. These and all other complaints and bottlenecks need to be removed to make industrial culture flow freely in the State. That is what the State Government in required to do after having succeeded in winning the extension of the package.
The end purpose of all this effort is to improve the life standard of the people, provide more avenues of employment and generate state’s economy further. This objective should not be put out of sight. In the same strain, the Government shall have to carry the industrial culture to rural areas of the state for which infrastructure has to be upgraded. The extended industrial package should have the provision of bringing some suitable rural areas under its action plan. The sites of 20 industrial estates have been identified and that is a very healthy sign. But this could be an enterprise as well as experiment. The objective should be to bring more industries to rural regions of the State where eradication of unemployment is of vital importance and migration of population to urban areas has to be arrested.
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