Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here today held discussions with stakeholders for accelerating investment in Himachal Pradesh in the second phase of first ever State Level Investors forum here today. Earlier, the Chief Minister held discussions on 29 projects worth Rs. 8,468 crore on Wednesday.
A total of 55 stalled projects worth Rs. 16,297 crore having potential of creating over 20000 job opportunities were discussed during two day meetings. He said that the Government was amending the investment policy to facilitate the investors to avoid frequent and unnecessary visits to government offices to get clearances for their projects.
The Chief Minister today held discussions with the potential investors interested in Tourism, Hydropower and Industrial sectors to accelerate the execution process of 26 stalled projects worth Rs. 7,828 crore. The Chief Minister discussed the issue with each investor individually and also reviewed the projects which were hanging for quite some time and enquired about the reasons of delay as well.
Expressing concern over the delay, the Chief Minister assured that the Government was actively addressing the shortcomings and providing all possible assistance to expedite investments in the State. He encouraged the entrepreneurs to share their issues with the State Government without any hesitation and assured them that these would be resolved without any delay and said that the Government was keen on providing a new direction to investment, with a special focus on hydro energy, tourism, and the IT sectors.
The Chief Minister said that developing tourism sector was the main agenda of the State Government, with Kangra poised to become the 'Tourism Capital' of the State. He said that significant investments would be made in the tourism sector by the government itself.
"The expansion of Kangra airport and the construction of heliports in all district headquarters were underway in a phased manner. Additionally, the government is actively promoting health tourism to attract visitors seeking medical treatments", he said.
Sh. Sukhu said that the State Government was committed to promote the IT sector, aiming to create employment and self employment opportunities for local youth currently engaged in the IT industry outside the State. Land parcels have been identified in Palampur in Kangra district, for the establishment of an IT park, he added.
Recognizing the hydel sector as a crucial source of revenue, the Chief Minister said that the Government has enacted the Water Cess Act to strengthen the State's economy. Moreover, plans are underway to introduce an ‘Open Hydel Policy’ to facilitate power producers in the State.
The Government would extend all-out support in removing obstacles for constructing and setting up hydel projects which are economically viable, he said. Later, the Chief Minister also held one-to-one interaction with the prospective entrepreneurs and sought their views for setting up their units at the earliest.
Industries Minister, Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the State Government was dedicated to attracting investments in Himachal, as investments will not only create employment opportunities to the youths but also generate revenue to the State exchequer.
He lauded the efforts of the Chief Minister for convening the meetings of prospective entrepreneurs and hoped that this unique step would go a long way in bringing the projects on ground. Principal Secretary Tourism, Devesh Kumar welcomed the Chief Minister and detailed about the potentiality of the tourism sector to increase the revenue to the State.
Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, Raghubir Singh Bali, Principal Advisor, Ram Subhag Singh, Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena, Director Industries, Yunus, Director Information & Public Relations, Kiran Bhadana, senior officers of the State Government and prospective investors also attended the meeting.