MUMBAI, Aug 8: The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party Government, in a major policy decision, has decided to pull out all stops impeding industrial investment in the State. All proposals of mega projects involving an investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more received after August 1 will be exempt from payment of sales tax, stamp duty and also duty on electricity bills for 14 years.

An earlier package of incentives introduced by the erstwhile Congress regime led by Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar in force since 1993 is percieved to be insufficient to bolster the industrial health of the State.

``We have amended the earlier package scheme of incentives. Now projects having an investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more will be exempted from payment of sales tax, stamp duty and also duty on electricity bills for 14 years. Besides, we have also taken a policy decision to allot land free of cost for new projects in tribal Gadchiroli district to develop the backward area,'' Industries Minister Leeladhar Dake told The Indian Express.

Elaborating the new policy, Dake said, ``It was essential to take these steps to ensure that entrepreneurs set up their units in Maharashtra and do not rush to the neighbouring states.''

As per the revised policy, Dake said there will be no ceiling on exemption from payment of sales tax and the entrepreneurs will not be liable to pay either the additional sales tax or turn over tax even were it to be introduced by the government subsequently.While the organisations supplying capital goods to these projects will also be exempted from payment of sales tax, the existing period of completing the project has also been extended from three years to five years, Dake said. This, however, does not exempt entrepreneurs from filing annual return as prescribed under the provisions of Sales Tax Act, he clarified.

Answering a question, Dake denied that the amended policy was a response to a perception that there was a marked decline in industrial investment in the State. He noted that while in most other states such decisions were taken on a case-by-case basis, the State had a a consistent general policy with regard to incentives.

Dake vehemently denied the charge that after the alliance government came to power, there was a constant decline in the number of industries or that industrial peace was hampering the state's progress.

``All these charges are politically motivated. I have a letter from the United Front government stating that Maharashtra continues to occupy the top position in industrial investment and also in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),'' Dake added.

Dake said a status paper sent by the Centre noted that between August 1991 and March 1997, the State received a total of 6,225 proposals with an investment potential of Rs 165,543 crore.

These are projected to generate employment for more than 3.48 lakh persons during the next three years.

Maharashtra has been followed by Gujarat (4,734), Uttar Pradesh (4,734), Tamil Nadu (3,159), Andhra Pradesh (2,210) and Haryana (2,079). ``On occasions, it appears that the investment is declining, but it is owing to technical reasons," Dake said.

Once the project is completed, then it will not be listed in the report and hence that much investment is reduced from the total cost of the projects,'' he added. After the Sena-BJP government took over in March 1995, a total of 1,813 new proposals with an investment possibility of Rs 33,963 crore have been received. ``This is highest in the country. No other state, despite providing more facilities and concessions, has received such a large number of proposals,'' he remarked.

Dake said that of 31 per cent the proposed investments related to the power sector, 18 per cent to metals and products, 12 to oil-gas, petroleum, nine to chemical plants, seven per cent to automobile sector, six per cent each to textiles and irrigation, three to rubber and plastics, two to transport and six to other sectors.

So far as Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are concerned, Dake claimed that 409 proposals with investment potential of Rs 4,998 crore have been received by the State Government.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.