Nishank meets PM, seeks extension of industrial package to Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday and asked for an extension of the Concessional Industrial Package, which provides for tax holiday, till 2020 to encourage investment in the hill state and provide employment.
"A resolution has been unanimously passed in the state assembly for the extension of the industrial package.But the central government has not taken any decision even as the policy expires on March 31," he told reporters later. The entire Uttarakhand cabinet was present at the meeting. They sought an extension of the CIP on the lines of a similar measure offered to the northeastern states.
Nishank said the PM assured them that he would refer the matter to the finance minister. "We are hopeful of a positive outcome," he said.
During the NDA regime, Uttarakhand got the industrial package till the year 2013 and also the status of a special category state, he said.
"You will never find an instance of reducing a facility given. There is resentment in Uttarakhand. It is a sensitive state. I cannot say how the people of the state will react if the package is not extended. Getting a package till 2013 is our right," Nishank said.
Asked whether the BJP-ruled state was being discriminated against by the Centre, Nishank retorted, "What is evident does not need a proof."
To a query about Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh meeting the PM and whether BJP-ruled states were building pressure on the Centre to concede to their demands, Nishank said, "It is a question of getting justice not putting pressure."
Nishank said when Uttarakhand got the industrial package, Congress was in power in the state while NDA was in power at the Centre. "The issue cannot be politicised as it concerns the entire state," he said, referring to the resolution passed in the state assembly by all parties, including Congress and BSP.
On the implications of Centre not extending the package, Nishank said, "Investment worth Rs 30,000 crore which has been committed will be affected and two lakh youths will not be able to get employment. Nothing could be worse for the state."
A 10-year CIP was introduced in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh by the NDA government in January 2003. The UPA government curtailed the package period to 2007 but later extended it to 2010.
On the same issue, Uttarakhand Congress leaders met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who promised that she would take up the matter with the PM.
"Sonia Gandhi patiently heard our demand and assured us that she would talk to the PM," Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat said. AICC in charge of Uttarakhand R K Dhawan, state party chief Yashpal Arya, Lok Sabha MP Vijay Bahuguna and other senior leaders from the state were present. Rawat said the Congress delegation would also meet the PM on Tuesday in this regard.
Centre has been reluctant to extend the package claiming that it was against the spirit of Goods and Service Tax (GST) which is likely to come into effect from April next year.
An industrial boom was witnessed in Uttarakhand after the Centre announced the special package in 2003 with top companies like Tata Motors, Nestle, Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda setting up new units in the state.