Himachal Pradesh will relax land laws besides offering other incentives to promote the industrial investment in the state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has said."We want to make Himachal Pradesh an ideal investment destination by relaxing the norms under section 118 to set up industries and provide business friendly environment to the entrepreneurs," a statement quoting the chief minister said.Attending an event organised by the Industries Association of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh in Baddi town Thursday, he said the government would relax land laws so that the entrepreneurs who want to dispose excess land could do it smoothly."We want that the process of transfer or sale from one company to other does not hamper the transfer process. We will try to relax the norms in this direction and make a policy industry-friendly."
Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act of 1972 allows only permanent residents of the state to buy land. Others who want to purchase land for non-agricultural purposes have to seek permission from the state government.The chief minister said the state government was now keen to develop Una and Kangra districts as new industrial belts.On state's lowest tariffs of electricity, the chief minister said: "I want to use every unit of power produced in the state to be utilized for the people of the state rather than selling it out.""The electricity duty has been considerably reduced in case of existing as well as new industries," he said.
The chief minister assured the industrialists that the state government would take adequate steps for strengthening the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority (BBNDA) so as to provide more autonomy, accountability and authority to it."The BBNDA is a civic body and our government wants that it should work for the beautification of the area. Besides creating parks, it should make a place worth habitable and attractive so as to create conducive environment," he said.He said the proposal for connecting the Baddi-Barotiwala with rail link was in final stage from Kalka to Baddi via Chandimandir. "I am informed that a survey has been done and the alignment of the track has been finalised too," the chief minster added.