The Punjab and Haryana government’s plea to Centre has finally been heard as minister of state for industry Ashwani Kumar has assured that the special concessions for hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal would go after 2009.
The minister who hails from Punjab, told FE on Thursday that “all disparities among different states would go by 2009”. Punjab and Haryana chief ministers Parkash Singh Badal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda had been persistently asking the Centre to do away with special package for hill states, as this had led to large flight of industry. The two chief ministers had been demanding a level playing field from the Centre.
However, Himachal Pradesh apprehending curtailment of the prevailing tax holiday has already made a case before the Centre to extend the special concessions till 2013 as notified in 2003 when concessions were announced for 10 years and the state was still developing.
About 250 units have migrated from Punjab and 200 from Haryana to Himachal Pradesh while Uttaranchal has registered about 3,000 new units mainly migrated from Uttar Pradesh after special concessions were announced in 2003.
The minister, however, said, “There would be an exception only in case of Jammu and Kashmir and North East in view of adverse conditions in these states.”
Kumar, who has been under attack from ruling party leaders in Punjab over his statement that “Centre was not considering any special package for Punjab as demanded by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his MP son, Sukhbir Singh Badal”, said he never made such a statement.
Meanwhile, former minister of state for fertilizers and chemicals had criticised Ashwani Kumar alleging that the minister had failed to get Punjab a penny from the Centre.
The minister said that he had been misquoted as he had never said that free power or subsidies to farm sector should be done away with. “I am not averse to subsidies to any particular sector,” said the minister. Punjab should focus on power generation to make the state power surplus as that would be the key to woo investment and bring the state back to old glory, he added.
Kumar further said once disparities between different states go and special concessions to neighbouring hill states too, Punjab would benefit, as industries would stop its migration from Punjab. Not only that many units that had migrated in view of special concessions might return.
He claimed that he had been doing his best to ensure Punjab’s economic growth.