The Hindu Business Line : Ground prepared to facilitate easy flow of Thai investments into N-E

Industry & Economy - Foreign Direct Investment
Government - Industrial Policy
States - West Bengal
Ground prepared to facilitate easy flow of Thai investments into N-E

Notifications by Industrial Policy and Promotion Dept issued: Minister

Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar

Mohan Padmanabhan

Kolkata, Sept. 21 As a prelude to attract investments into the North Eastern region from Thailand in a big way, especially in infrastructure development, all necessary notifications by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, have been issued.

Under the new North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), 2007, capital investment subsidy for plant and machinery (for units coming up in North East) has been enhanced from 15 per cent to 30 per cent, and the limit for automatic approval of subsidy at this rate is now Rs 1.5 crore per unit, as against the Rs 30 lakh which was available under NEIP, 1997. For subsidy higher than Rs 1.5 crore but up to a maximum of Rs 30 crore, there will be an empowered committee chaired by Secretary, DIPP with Secretaries of DONER, Expenditure, Representative of Planning Commission and Secretary of the concerned Ministries of Government of India as its members as also the concerned Chief Secretary/Secretary (industry) of North Eastern States where the claiming unit is to be located.

Proposals which are eligible for a subsidy higher than Rs 30 crore will be placed by the DIPP before the Union Cabinet for approval.

Pointing out that mainstream investors within the country were shying away from investments in North East, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Department of North Eastern Region (DONER), Panchayati Raj, Sports and Youth Affairs, told Business Line here on Friday that all out efforts were being mounted by DONER and the related agencies of the Government to make the forthcoming four-day North East Trade and Investment Opportunities Week programme in Bangkok a big success.

He said the ground has been prepared to facilitate investments to flow into the North East from Thailand, especially in areas such as construction and road-building. Six Chief Ministers of the NE States, excluding Sikkim and Tripura, were favourably inclined to participate at the Bangkok meet, and necessary PMO and MEA clearances would be sought for this, said the Minister.

Asked on the composition of the final team, the Minister said besides representatives of the companies which issued EOIs at the joint business meet sometime back, and trade delegations, there would be representatives of all stakeholders in the North East including central infrastructure development agencies such as NHAI and others. A 30-member delegation of Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (Shefexil) is also expected to participate.

Look East Policy Meet

Mr Aiyar said a major closed door meeting on the Government’s ‘Look East’ Policy has been called for October 15, in which all eight Chief Ministers of NE States and other high officials would be participate.

Besides this, the NEC is planning to conduct a two-day meet on November 21-22 to formally adopt the final `Vision 2020’ document prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

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