Funds would never constrain infrastructure
development in Himachal: Kuldeep Dhiman
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| The Hon’ble Minister of Industries, Government of Himachal Pradesh Mr. Kuldeep Kumar Dhiman inaugurating the Seminar. On his left is Mr. R.S.Gujral, DGFT and on his right is Dr. R.K. Dhawan, Chairman, FIEO(NR). |
Industry Minister of Himachal Pradesh informs that an ICD isbeing set up in Baddi area and to facilitate exports from the region, his government has constituted BBNIA (Baddi, Brotiwala, Nalagarh Industries Association). Addressing a seminar on how to promote exports from Himachal Pradesh held at Baddi on 21st September, Mr. Kuldeep Kumar Dhiman further informed that in order to ensure expeditious official clearance for setting up of new industrial units, a state level Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister had been constituted.
The Minister admitted that despite spending considerable amount of money, the industrial infrastructure in the state was not coming of age, but, he stressed that his state had a reputation for having investor friendly and responsive administration. He said his government was committed to maintain peaceful industrial relation in the state and was continually striving to streamline and simplify procedures to attract private investment. The Minister sought meaningful contributions from the industry to support government’s endeavors.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dhiman emphasized that Himachal was blessed with natural potential for generating power and assured that the industries in the region would never face any shortage of power. He said his government was laying special focus on building rail link from Baddi to Chandigarh and was looking to involve private sector towards overall infrastructure development of the state. The Minister assured that funds would never constrain the development of infrastructure in the state during his government.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, Mr. R S Gujral, during his address at the Seminar organized by FIEO in association with Baddi, Brotiwala, Nalagarh Industries Association and Parwanoo Industries Association, said that the State Government could supplement its efforts towards infrastructure development through ASIDE Scheme, for which, he informed, an outlay of Rs. 6 crore had been made in the current budget.
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| Dr. R.K. Dhawan addressing the meeting. Sitting on the dais, from left, are Mr. Ajay Sahai, Director General, FIEO; Dr. Syayam S Agarwal, Addl. DGFT; Ms. Perminder Mathur, Addl. Chief Secretary-cum-Secretary (Industries), Govt. of HP; Mr. Kuldeep Kumar Dhiman and Mr. R.S. Gujral. |
On strengthening of rupee, Mr. Gujral suggested the exporters to resort to hedging and other safety mechanisms and also advised them to improve cost efficiency. For refund of state levies on exports, he said, a mechanism was being worked out. The DGFT made a special announcement on this occasion that wherever filing of DEPB claims had been delayed on account of non-appearance of shipping bills on the DGFT website, such claims would not be treated as ‘time barred’.
Addl. Chief Secretary in the Himachal Government, Ms. Perminder Mathur informed that with the assistance of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the State Government had developed an Export Promotion Industrial Park at Baddi in Solan district with an estimated project cost of Rs. 20 crore and was also implementing various infrastructure development projects under the ASIDE Scheme to provide basic infrastructure to the exporters. She further informed that a State level Export Promotion Committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary had been constituted and the Director of Industries had been designated as the Export Commissioner to promote exports from the State.
Earlier, while welcoming the participants to the Seminar, FIEO’s Northern Region Chairman Dr. R K Dhawan said that Himachal Pradesh had earned a special place in the country’s map for being the first state to successfully implement poverty alleviation programmes. "The achievements of Himachal Pradesh in the fields of health, education, rural development, social welfare, infrastructure development, etc. reflect the commitment of the state government to achieve growth in every sector," he said.
Spelling out the objective of the Seminar, Dr. Dhawan said that the Seminar aimed at sensitizing the entrepreneurs of the state towards taking up export activities. According to him, the region could earn huge foreign exchange by exporting processed food, cotton, synthetic and blended yarn, leather goods, electronic goods, essential oils, medicines, handmade textile products etc.
Mr. A R Singh, President, BBN Industries Association raised the issue of infrastructural bottlenecks with respect to road transport, air-links, rail-links, ICD etc. and urged the authorities to improve the working conditions of the existing infrastructure to facilitate faster economic growth of the region.
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| A view of the audience. |
Summing up the proceedings of the Seminar, FIEO Director General Mr. Ajay Sahai observed that export industry had already been acknowledged as the major contributor to higher rates of economic growth for any state. The empirical evidences suggest, said Mr. Sahai, that export industry had effectively tackled the problem of unemployment of backward regions. "Himachal Pradesh has distinct advantage in tourism, animal husbandry, horticultural and agricultural production and the state can generate huge employment in its backward regions by promoting exports," Mr. Sahai added.`
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State level Export Promotion Committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary has been constituted and the Director of Industries has been designated as the Export Commissioner. Ms. Perminder Mathur Addl. Chief Secretary, Himachal Pradesh |
Wherever filing of DEPB claims had been delayed on account of non-appearance of shipping bills on the DGFT website, such claims would not be treated as ‘time barred’.
Mr. R S Gujral Director General of Foreign Trade |
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Suggestions forwarded by Exporters at the Seminar
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Seminar on Supply Chain Security October 18, 2007, New Delhi
FIEO (Northern Region), in association with EU-India Trade and Investment Development Programme (TIDP), is organizing a one-day Seminar on Supply Chain Security as per the following schedule:
(The seminar includes lunch, tea/coffee etc.) Limited seats on first-cum-first served basis
Experts from UK will deliberate on issues related to supply chain security in view of emerging threats of terrorism in global trading.
Kindly confirm your early participation as limited seats are available. Registration amount is Rs 200/- per participant. Please send cheque/DD in favour of Federation of Indian Export Organisations payable at New Delhi |
