Shimla: Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has sought each district being adopted by a different public sector bank for preparing district specific plans which need to be implemented in a time bound manner to check the a flight of capital from the state to more developed areas.
Speaking at a meeting of chief ministers of northern states, CEO of Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions at Chandigarh today that was presided over by union finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Dhumal said that the Credit Deposit ratio in Himachal Pradesh was merely 40.7% as compared to All India ratio of 71.1% in December, 2009.
This ratio only reflects the flight of capital from the State to the other areas, he said. What was more worrisome, he added, that as per data compiled by the State-level bankers Committee (SLBC), the Credit Deposit ratio of seven districts out of the 12 in the State was less than 40% on 31st March, 2010.
He said that there was a need to do a detailed district-wise analysis and preparation of District -wise action plants so as to ensure that the C.D. ratio of every district move to the All India-level in a time-bound manner.
There was also a need to do bank-wise analysis as this ratio was particularly low for certain banks. The district-wise plans needed to be prepared in a professional manner, thereby clearly bringing out the priority areas and investment potential. Such plans would need to be made district specific as the opportunities for investment would vary from district to district, he added.
Dhumal said that with expiry of excise duty exemption from 1st April, 2010 under the industrial package, the situation was likely to get much worse in the coming years.
He urged the finance minister to consider conceding to the state’s request for extending excise duty exemption for industrial units in Himachal Pradesh upto 31st March, 2013.
The central government could consider extending of industrial package to Haryana in Morni Hills and Punjab in Pathankot hills in case both these states have any objection of extending this package to Himachal Pradesh, he said.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
