Punjab Deputy Chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced the State government will come up with a new policy under "Make in Punjab" to encourage the local industry thereby providing incentives for its growth.Presiding over series of meetings with the small scale and large scale industrialists of the state here at Punjab Bhawan today, Mr Badal stressed that the Punjab government was committed to attract setting up of new industries on one hand and revive the existing units on the other. "My sole aim is to provide congenial atmosphere, liberal policies and online facilities to the entrepreneurs for overall progress of the Punjab as well as generating job opportunities to youth," he emphasized.
Empowering the industrialists' associations to develop and maintain existing focal points the Deputy Chief Minister informed that under new policy Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) would be set up in each industrial area by January 1st. The SPVs would collect the taxes from the industrial units and spend it on the development of industrial areas. "This unique mechanism will certainly help in eliminating the various problems regarding provisioning of basic amenities and other facilities in focal points", he assured.Assenting to the demands of businessmen, Mr Badal announced that under existing labour rules payments to the industrial labour through cheques would be deferred by December 31 and alternative arrangements would be made in consultations with the labour department. In order to redress their genuine grievances, Deputy CM asked the excise and industry departments to constitute an advisory committee of small scale manufacturers to get their valuable suggestions. Exhorting the manufacturers to submit their suggestions he directed the Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal to convene a meeting of this advisory committee of at the earliest to redress their grievances.
Providing big relief to the industrialists Mr Badal announced that excise department would scrutinise assessment cases of tax payers pertaining to the last three years instead of five years and if any tax payer found at fault then scrutiny of five years taxes would be implemented. With a view to provide online facilities and all queries to the tax payers he asked them to upload their email ids on the departmental web portal.Announcing to provide VAT retention and power incentives even for expansion of existing units under new industrial policy Mr Badal said that State government has been formulating a new power policy in which existing units would also get cheaper power below Rs 5 per unit keeping in view their present consumption. Announcing to exclude steel industry from the negative list he also informed that exhibition halls at Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar would also be setup soon.He also advised the small scale entrepreneurs to pay lump-sum taxes by adopting "Rahat Scheme" that had already been implemented for the traders to end 'Inspector Raj' across the state. "The main aim behind the new scheme is to simplify the procedure of trade and business in the state,” he added.
Present in the meeting Industry and Commerce Minister Mr Madan Mohan Mittal also announced that the different rules governing the industrial estates and focal points would be amalgamated thereby empowering the Punjab State Industry Development Corporation to administer the allottees. He also proposed to setup exclusive "Wood Park" at Anandpur Sahib in an area of about 200 acres to promote plywood and timber industry in Kandi areas.
Prominent among other who were present in the meeting included Chief Parliamentary Secretary N.K. Sharma, Industry Advisors to CM Rajinder Gupta and Kamal Oswal, Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Principal Secretary Housing, Labour and Forests Vishwajit Khanna, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM PS Aujla, Secretary Industry and CEO Invest Punjab Anirudh Tewari, Financial Commissioner Taxation Anurag Aggarwal, MD PSIDC SR Laddhar, Special Principal Secretaries to Deputy CM Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Rahul Tewari and Ajay Kumar Mahajan.