Goa announces new industrial policy

PANAJI: The Goa government has announced its new industrial policy seeking formation of a statutory Board of Investment that will work as a single window clearing agency for industrial and tourism investment projects and also unveiled a series of novel schemes linking government subsidies to employment generation of permanent nature for the locals by industry.
The policy also seeks to encourage self-employment entrepreneurial initiatives by locals with a special preference to women.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told ET that the government was determined to make administration sensitive to the needs of the industry and the focus of the new policy was on “sustainable employment generation and catalyzing balanced industrial growth.�
All the schemes will have preference to women entrepreneurs through additional subsidy quantum of 5 per cent.
The schemes include subsidy for small, medium and large scale industry, venture capital subsidy for manufacturing, scheme for revival of sick units.
The cap for subsidy would be Rs. 6 lakh for SSI while Rs. 12 lakh for medium and large units for five years.
The sick units revival scheme will have incentives of power and water subsidies. Apart from that the policy has also envisaged incentives to industry consuming local raw material and also a preferential purchase scheme for SSI in government purchases.
Parrikar said that the Board for Investment would be made effective as a single window clearing body by giving it statutory powers as regards authority from various departments for on the spot clearances.
Armed with a Rs.5 crore allocation from the Centre under Integrated Rural Development, the state government also contemplates to undertake improvement of infrastructure facilities at various industrial estates in backward regions of the state so that the funds can also be utilised to support the traditional industrial activities in rural areas.
The government has also accepted the suggestion of the industry not to increase the number of industrial estates from present 30 and instead give stress on developing infrastructure of existing industrial estates and complete utilisation of these spread across the state before setting up any new industrial estates.
The new policy, he said, would encourage employment generating industries like pharmaceuticals, software, precision engineering, biotechnology, etc.
Taking past experience into consideration, the fiscal benefits given to the industry would be oriented towards attracting long-term investment and discouraging fly-by-night operators, said an official of the Industries department.
The government favoured a greater synergy between the industry and the agriculture sector, keeping this in view, the government proposes to set up professional groups which will facilitate and expedite commercial value addition to agro-based products.
Export oriented activities like floriculture, and horticulture would be also promoted.