Need to set up land banks for manufacturing zones in India

14 Sep '12

3 min read

The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles Shri Anand Sharma has explained that the incentives enunciated in the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) can be availed of by any industrial cluster which is based on a model of self-regulation through a Special Purpose Vehicle.

This should address the concerns of the States that are not in position to earmark the land needed for National Manufacturing and Investment Zones. The Government of India has already notified nine such Townships along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor with a minimum land area of 5,000 hectares after a strong demand from the concerned State Governments. “For the first time, an effective single window clearance mechanism has been established for this Policy which will enable industrial units to obtain, at one place, various regulatory clearances including those relating to labour and environment” said the minister, addressing the meeting of the State Chief Secretaries and Industry Secretaries on manufacturing.

Referring to the social dimension of the Manufacturing Shri Sharma said that neither agriculture nor services sector will be able to grow at such a rapid pace to create newer job opportunities for the aspirational youth of India. The manufacturing sector alone holds this potential to create skilled jobs for the rural youth. National Manufacturing Policy announced in October last year aims to raise the share of manufacturing to 25% in the GDP and creating 100 million productive jobs in this sector within a decade.

Outlining the be benefits of the NMP, Shri Sharma said that “we have been able to persuade the Finance Ministry to allow, for the first time, capital gains tax concessions for investing the sale proceeds of a residential property into the productive activity of a small and medium enterprise. We are pushing for allowing these concessions for the sale of landed property also and not only for residential property.” Furthermore, this policy for the first time envisages creation of Technology Acquisition Development Fund which will serve as a patent pool in which industrial units will be able to seek license for a patented technology which will help them in manufacturing.

Expressing concerns on inadequate availability of skilled manpower Shri Sharma said that the manufacturing policy clearly addresses the gap by providing fiscal incentives for establishment of skill development institutions, it is and polytechnics by the private industry.

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