Himachal sets up land banks for attracting new industry

By: Ravinder Makhaik

Shimla: With some large industries still evincing interest about investing in the hill state despite curtailing an excise holiday, the government has accumulated a land bank and has developed new industrial estates for attracting more industrial investments.

The land bank with the government has more than 8000 Bighas with it and has identified additional 2000 bighas of land for large industries in Dabhota, said an official spokesman.

For establishing and IT and Electronic Industrial Park at Kashmirpura Brahmana 500 bighas of land has been marked, for setting up a textile and food park at Manjholi 934 bigha’s of land has been identified and to boost micro, small and medium units another 750 bighas of land at Palasara in Nalagarh has been made available, he said.

Within the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt a new estate of 612 bighas at Davni has been developed, he said, and ready to be put to use plots are being provided.

To reduce pressure on land in the existing industrial belts, the government was identifying private and government land that could be utilized for setting up new industries.

Despite withdrawal of the special industrial package incentives from 1st April, 2010, Hero Honda and Nestle are among the larger industrial groups who have shown interest in setting new units in Himachal.

The central government has in principle agreed to set up a Rs 70.54 crore bulk drug and pharma cluster at Baddi which would have a public effluent treatment plant.

Since the special package was announced in 2003, an investment of Rs 14,097.63 crore on 3469 new industries has been made, with a substantial amount of 6120.92 crore on 2616 industrial units being made the last three years, said the spokesman.

To meet industrial needs for power and gas, an agreement has been signed with Gas Authority of India (GAIL) for laying a 65 Km long gas pipeline from Rajpura in Punjab to Baddi. This pipeline would meet industrial, transport and domestic needs for natural gas. For spot buying and selling of different grades of plastics, a polymer park was being set up at Baddi, he said.