Himachal develops new industrial estate in Baddi

SHIMLA - To attract more investment into Himachal Pradesh, the state government has developed a new estate in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area in Solan district, an official said here Sunday.

“A new industrial estate has been developed in Davni village in Solan district under the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area and plots have been developed on 612 bighas (one bigha is 0.4 hectare) for the investors,” said the official.

He said the government had set up “land banks” of more than 8,000 bighas across the state to set up information technology, electronics, textile and food parks and other medium units.

To strengthen power infrastructure in the state, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with GAIL (India) for laying a 65-km long pipeline from Rajpura in Punjab to Baddi in the state to supply natural gas to industrial, transport and domestic sectors.

Official data show that the present Bharatiya Janata Party government has attracted an investment of Rs.6,120.92 crore with the commissioning of 2,616 industrial units across the state from December 2007 till date.

However, during this period the government has cleared 3,469 industrial proposals worth Rs.14,097.63 crore.

Two-wheeler major Hero Honda has also approached the state government for land to set up a facility in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area.

Nestle India is also going to set up a food and beverage unit with an outlay of Rs.400 crore in the Tahliwal industrial area in Una district. It has recently signed a memorandum of understanding on land lease with the state.

Under Himachal Pradesh laws, only permanent residents can buy land in the state. Others, who want to purchase the land for non-agricultural purposes, have to seek relaxation from the government under the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act.