As part of its attempts to achieve rapid industrial growth, the State government started giving fiscal incentives to new and existing units with the larger objective of building economic assets thereby creating employment. Industry bodies have been asking for tax concessions and other measures that will help them in setting up new units and for expansion.
Taking a step in that direction, the government has earlier this month formally agreed to give 50 per cent concession in Value Added Tax and Central Sales Tax for five years (from the date of commencement of production) to two major industries.
The first one is a 500,000 ton-per-annum coke oven plant proposed to be established by Universal Coke & Power Limited (UPCL) at an estimated cost of Rs 725 crore in Nellore district and another one is the 1,000 tonnes-per-day maize processing unit to be set up by Gujarat Ambuja Exports Limited in Kurnool district with an outlay of nearly Rs 250 crore.
Shahi Exports Private Limited is another beneficiary of various incentives. It proposed to set up garment units in Anantapur and Chittoor districts with a total capacity of nearly 75 million pieces a year with an aggregate investment of approximately Rs 145 crore.
The above benefits are in addition to those envisaged in the Industrial Investment Promotion Policy 2010-15 and the government’s obligation to create the basic infrastructure.
Seven per cent interest subsidy on garments for five years and 100 per cent refund of VAT on raw materials including cotton for eight years as provided in Gujarat Textile Policy were given for the units of M/s Shahi Exports.
These incentives have been welcomed by a representative of Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation who told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity that the government’s commitment to industrialisation would be put test by the issues involved in allotment of land.
It (government) faced the uphill task of reclaiming the huge tracts of land that remained unproductive in the possession of companies to which allotments were made by the previous dispensations, and zeroing in on a foolproof mechanism of giving lands to industries under the present circumstances.
(Reporting by V. Raghavendra)
