Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan today said in the Vidhan Sabha that Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, has become a hurdle in attracting investment to the state and a long-term policy was required to bring investment and industrial development. “Section 118 is good but it takes two years to get clearance under it. Businessmen want their units to start production at the earliest. The Congress and the BJP will have to agree on its simplification and prepare a long-term plan to bring investment to the state,” he added.
Chauhan said that the government was trying its best to attract investment and stop industries from moving to other states. There was need for continuity in policies to attract investment, he added.
To a question asked by Paonta Sahib MLA Sukh Ram Chaudhary that how many industrial units had been established in the state and how many of them had shut operations in the past two years, Chauhan said that the opening and closure of industrial units was a routine affair and the government’s job was only to provide facilities and incentives to the industry. “There are several reasons for the closure of industrial units. It’s possible that their products are not selling, their technology is outdated or some differences have cropped up between partners,” he added.
The Industries Minister said that approvals were given to 143 industrial units through a single window system, which would provide employment to 17,730 persons. He added that 1,854 industrial units were set up in the state in the past three years. He, however, added that the government did not have information about how many of these units reached the production stage.
To Shahpur MLA Kewal Singh Pathania’s question, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that the government was planning to promote a temple and water body tourism circuit in the state. He added that the Tourism Department had prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) for the development of Mata Chintpurni Temple and tourism in the Pong Dam.
Agnihotri said that under the Prasad scheme, a DPR of Rs 56.67 crore had been prepared for the development of the Chintpurni Temple and it had been sent to the Ministry of Tourism for approval. He added that under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0, a DPR had been prepared for the development of the Pong Dam from tourism point of view.
To Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma’s question, Education Minister Rohit Thakur said that the government had closed or merged 1,201 schools in the state. Besides, the government had also denotified 17 colleges, he added.
In response to Rohru MLA Mohan Lal Brakta’s question, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh said that the Jiskoon-Jakha road in Dodra-Kwar of Shimla district was being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and the work was likely to be completed by March. As for the Bagh-Khadrala-Subgri road, only a 2 km stretch was still to be tarred and the work would be done as and when the budget was available, he added.
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