Union Minister of State for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma today visited Industrial Growth Centre Lassipora, Pulwama to review the Industrial scenario there.He was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, Baseer-ul-Haq Chaudhary and SSP, Pulwama Shri Ghulam Jeelani besides officers from other concerned departments.
MoS visited some new industrial units functioning in the estate and had an extensive round of infrastructure of manufacturing units.He appreciated their business model and the state of the art technology engaged to add value to the local produce.
He recognized and lauded their contribution toward self-reliance and employment generation.He said Govt of India (GOI) is committed towards providing congenial atmosphere for entrepreneurship. He added that the ease of doing business policy of Govt has led to flourishing of Industry and Entrepreneurship.
He said that IGC Lassipora is the growth engine of industry and is a developmental model for rest of Union Territory of J&K.The Minister also visited CA stores, Pencil slate manufacturing unit, Horticulture driven units like apple juice manufacturing plants etc. located in the estate.
During his visit to the pencil slate manufacturing unit, MoS was appraised by the authorities regarding the speciality of Pulwama in Pencil Slate manufacturing. He was informed that the district is the highest exporter of Pencil slates catering to almost 80 percent of the demand of the pencil manufacturing units in the country giving it the name of Pencil District.
During the interaction with Industrialists at IGC, several demands were raised including upgradation of Infrastructure, establishment of SIDBI office, revival of sick units, amnesty for power tariffs, connectivity of road from IGC Lassipora to Sangam connecting IGC with National Highway 44.