Chandigarh, March 8:
The Industries and Commerce Minister Punjab Mr. Sunder Sham Arora today envisioned that the Budget 2021-22 tabled by Punjab government led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in the house would further give impetus to the industrial growth in the state.
In a statement issued here today, the Minister said that the Industrial & Business Development Policy in 2017 (IBDP-2017) had created an investor friendly regulatory environment aimed at Ease of Doing Business. He said that as a result of this progressive policy, the State has received 1,726 proposals with proposed investment of about Rs. 71,262 crore during the last 4 years and leading to employment generation of around 2.7 lac persons. Mr Arora said that to further facilitate the investor at door-step, facilitation offices for investors at District level- District Bureau of Industry & Investment Promotion (DBIIP) offices have been set up in each district.
The Minister said that as a part of decriminalization of the various laws associated with Industry and investments, the Government proposes to constitute an Oversight Committee with senior officers of concerned line departments and delegating the powers of approving criminal actions against the erring units to the Committee. He said that this would help in giving a major fillip to industrial growth in the region. Likewise, Mr Arora said that to give further impetus to the start-up ecosystem in the state, the State Government under the able guidance of Captain Amarinder Singh Ji has approved the establishment of Punjab Innovation Mission 2020 and Punjab Innovation Fund worth Rs. 150 crore to invest in early-stage start-ups in the state of Punjab adding that provision of Rs. 10 crore proposed in 2021-22 for this purpose under “Financial Assistance to Start-ups” will give much needed impetus to start ups.
The Minister said that to give push to the economic growth and development in the State and generate jobs, the Government proposes to set up a statutory mechanism for deemed approval for various regulatory clearances at all levels. He said that this would be another milestone in the industrial development of state.
Mr. Arora said that the proposal of setting up new Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) at total cost of Rs. 29 crore and upgradation of five Industrial Focal Points (IFPs) of Punjab under the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme was another important initiative.
The Minister said that provision of Rs. 50 crore proposed for disbursement of sanctioned capital subsidy to eligible and entitled Industrial unit under various Industrial Policies in 2021-22 was also a path breaking initiative. He said that as per the demand of plot holders and their representatives, the government proposes to re-introduce OTS Scheme and extend its validity in the first phase up to July 31 this year which will be a huge relief to industrialists.
Mr. Arora said that taking a considerate view of the recessionary phase coupled with the severe impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and difficulty being encountered by the plot holders in mobilising funds, the Government proposes to extend “Amnesty Scheme” offered to the defaulting plot holders wherein they could discharge their principal liability along with simple interest at the rate of 15% per annum from current deadline of 30.06.2021 to 31.03.2022. The Minister said that the provision of Rs. 5 crore is proposed in 2021-22 for the scheme “Dedicated funds for meeting the state share for Centrally Sponsored Schemes – Assistance Small Enterprise Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP)”.
