6,000 acres of land bank, new policy woo investors

Guwahati: Assam has created a land bank of more than 6,000 acres and an industrial corridor stretching 80 km from Guwahati to Tihu to cater to the needs of investors.  In a bid to woo the investors, the Assam government has formulated a new industrial policy that proposes 100 per cent tax reimbursement every year irrespective of any capacity utilisation for 15 years.

The government is making these preparations in a bid to attract investors who will come in large numbers to The Global Investors’ Summit, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 3.

Stressing the need for rapid industrialisation, Assam industry minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the government has prepared a land bank comprising land and buildings of closed industrial units such as APOL, Baruabamungaon sugar mill, silk and spun mill, which it intends to utilise.

The government has also chalked out a strategy to ensure that electricity supply will not be a problem for  investors.

Declaring that the summit, to be attended by business delegations from abroad, besides India Inc. such as the Tatas, Ambanis and others, was the government’s first initiative to attract the investors, Mr Patowary said that a 80-km stretch from Guwahati to Tihu along the national highway will be opened for industrial activity.

Moreover, the AIDC’s 2,000-bigha plot of land at Nagarbera and another 1,000 bigha at Matia (Goalpara) were also on the offer, he added.

The minister said that his government would notify that the agricultural or unused land from 500 metres from the highway up to one km would be made available for industrial activity.

Mr Patowary said that the government was trying to streamline the haphazard construction of buildings et al lying unutilised and expressed hope that the proposed new industrial policy will bolster the investors’ and entrepreneurs’ confidence n the state.

To attract big-ticket investments to Assam, the government has announced reimbursements of tax to industries under the GST regime for a period till December 31, 2022. The Assam Industries (Tax Reimbursement for Eligible Units) Scheme, 2017, approved by the state cabinet, has formally been notified by the government now.

Under this policy, state finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that tax reimbursements shall be available to the units existing on the date of transition to GST and to those units and expansion units set up after July 1, 2017, during GST regime and up to December 31, 2022.

“The limit of tax exemption for medium and large units will be increased from 100 per cent to 150 per cent of fixed capital investment, while for mega units the exemption is proposed at a maximum ceiling of 200 per cent of fixed capital investment,”  he added.

The Centre is expected to come up with a separate industrial policy for Northeastern states. The Assam government recently held a series of meetings with the Union commerce ministry and NITI Aayog for formulation of the separate industrial policy.