By IANS,
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Wednesday jointly wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to restore the special industrial package given to the two states that expired in March.
Chief Ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank told reporters here that they wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday requesting him to restore the industrial package given to the states in 2003 that expired this year.
They said the central government was discriminating against the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states by not extending the industrial package which provided 100 percent excise duty exemption, among other benefits.
“The central government had extended the industrial package to the northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir for 10 years in 1997. The package was extended again for 10 years till 2017,” Himachal Chief Minister Dhumal said.
“In the case of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, however, the package was given in 2003 for 10 years and it provided 100 percent excise duty exemption also. But it was later curtailed to 2010. Now, we are demanding that the package should be restored till its original time frame,” said Nishank, Uttarakhand chief minister.
Dhumal said even Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had written a letter to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister Nov 13, 2009 in which he pleaded for extension of the scheme.
Sharma, who was here Saturday, however, said there would be no extension of the central excise duty exemption granted to the hill states under a special industrial package.
“There would be no extension of the central excise duty exemption beyond March 2010 granted under a special industrial package to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand after the expiry of the sunset clause. However, three major components of the package – income tax benefits and capital and transport subsidies – would continue as per the original time frame in these states,” he said.
In Himachal Pradesh, the package has lured investments in the pharmaceutical, food processing, textile, packaging and light engineering sectors.
Official data show the state had approved 13,195 projects after the package was announced. Of these, 6,356 units with an outlay of Rs.6,523 crore have begun production.
Nishank said the package attracted an investment of Rs.30,000 crore to Uttarakhand. Most of the investments have been made in Haridwar, Uddham Singh Nagar, Dehradun and Nainital.