21 Mar 2006

“Come as a visitor, stay as an investor” — that’s the message Uttaranchal has for you. The state not only enjoys proximity with the national capital New Delhi (which is just 250 km away), but has a high literacy rate of over 73% and a population which widely speaks and understands English.

The state is a safe and secure destination for investors, has a tourist-friendly environment, with a culture of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ or ‘Guest is God’. Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary (Industries), Uttaranchal, elaborated on the goals and objectives of the government.

The state aims to augment capital, infrastructure and resources, and promote technology and innovation for agricultural and industrial upgradation. He said that efforts are being made to make the government effective, transparent, responsive and accountable. The Uttaranchal government aims to encourage public-private participation in infrastructure development and delivery, Mr Chopra pointed out.

Describing Dehradun as the ‘Knowledge Capital’ that boasts of many famous organisations like the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, FRI, IMA, DEAL, IRDE and IIP, Mr Chopra said that Doon Valley is the nerve centre for quality education with institutions like Doon School, Welhams and RIMC. Uttaranchal also offers the best in technical education and has institutions like UPES, ICFAI and Doon University. The state has eight universities, 63 colleges and 19 technical colleges.

The state has well-known tourist spots like Panchachuli Peak, Bedini Tal, Bedini Bugyal, Harsil, Narayan Ashram, Nabi Village, Valley of Flowers and Om Parwat; religious places like Badrinath Temple, Kedarnath Temple, Gangotri Temple, Yamonatri Temple and Rudraprayag and national parks like Corbett National Park and Rajaji National Park bear testimony to Uttaranchal’s natural beauty.

Elaborating on the economic front, Mr Chopra said the credit-deposit ratio of state banks in the state for the period ended December ’05 was 42.01% and the credit-plus investment to deposit ratio was 49.28%. This is a steep rise from the credit-deposit rate of 18% in ’01-02. Loan disbursement in priority sector was Rs 3,447.95 crore, with agriculture and allied services accounting for Rs 1,147.03 crore and small-scale industries and others Rs 2,300.92 crore. Speaking of state exports, he said Uttaranchal exported goods worth Rs 350 crore in ’04-05, from units primarily located in Dehradun, Nainital, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. He identified the agriculture and medicinal plants, engineering goods, handicrafts and drawing and survey instruments as sectors with potential for high growth in exports. He listed a slew of measures that the government has taken to attract investment in various sectors

Tourism

Special incentives for tourism include exempting new tourism units from luxury tax and new ropeways installed from entertainment tax for five years from the date of commencement, and exempting new amusement parks from entertainment cost for five years from the date of becoming fully operational. These measures, along with a 100% exemption from entertainment tax for new multiplex projects for a period of three years and the conversion of land use being made admissible for hotels, motels, resort, health spa, yoga and meditation centre, tourist village entertainment/amusement/water park/natural and botanical park, would accelerate tourism growth in the state.

IT & ITeS

The Uttaranchal government will provide free bandwidth up to two Mbps to all IT and ITeS companies, call centres and BPO, among others, for a year. The companies will get 100% exemption on central excise for 10 years, 100% exemption on income tax exemption for the first five years and a 30% exemption for the next five years. Others would get an exemption of 25% for the same period and there would be a capital investment subsidy of 15% with a maximum of Rs 30 lakh. The State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (SIDCUL) is setting up a 65-acre state-of-the-art software technology park at Dehradun with intelligent buildings and a hi-tech habitat centre. In addition, an STPI earth station will be set up at Dehradun with a connectivity of up to 100 mbps. Reliance Infocomm, BSNL and VSNL are laying a fibre optics network. The state government has signed MoUs with Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, IBM and others for setting up research academies.

Around 40 acres of the 65-acre IT Park at Shastradhara Raod, Dehradun was saleable. The built-up space would be 40 lakh sq feet and the park will soon have roads, drainage, sewerage, water supply, provision for internal electrical and telecom/data connectivity. Doon Cyber Tower will have a 4-lakh sq feet built-up area. The construction will commence in March ’06 and the target for completion is January-March ’07.

MoUs have been signed with Microsoft IT academy, Shikhar project, Intel Technology India and CISCO. The state is developing infrastructure by creating a State IT academy at hermitage building, Nainital, specialised e-governance projects and standards for-governance applications.

He said private sector IT parks have been successful and the state has the fastest growing BPO sector, with 26 BPOs, including Astra, with 500 seats already operational. HCL will commence operations by April.

Biotechnology

The state has a vision to be India’s leading player in biotechnology by ’14. It is developing infrastructure for housing state-of-the-art facilities and promoting human resource development in bio technology to catalyse new ideas. The Uttaranchal government has taken initiatives to set up a world class bio-IT park on 500 acres of land abutting NH-87 that would also house a bio-incubator and engage a professional advisor to catalyse the park development based on a public-private partnership model.

The government has taken various initiatives for forest and rural development, too. It has created the agriculture export development unit (AEDU), which is the nodal agency for implementation of infrastructure initiatives in the sector and has the responsibility of processing horticulture technology mission in the state. Four agriculture export zones (AEZ) have been created for litchie, basmati, floriculture and aromatic and medicinal plants. The AEZ for walnut, exotic and off-season fruits and vegetables and organic produce are being set up. AEZ would also facilitate fiscal incentives, provide technical assistance, infrastructure and logistic arrangements and escort service to entrepreneurs.

The government wants to make Uttaranchal the organic capital of India and has declared it an organic state. A team of 20,000 farmers in 1,200 bio-villages are being formed. A thousand hectares has been certified as organic as per international norms, more than 75 product ranges are available, and a dedicated agency provides a single window for forward link.

The surplus production of horticulture and agriculture crops and a large livestock population provide several opportunities. Floriculture sector provided opportunities for corrugated packaging and bottle and can manufacturing, establishing cold chain infrastructure, herbal pharmaceutical and cosmetics, and Basmati processing and storage facility. He acknowledged the need to augment state capabilities and service delivery by expanding the trained and skilled workforce, implementing positive policy and procedural environment, developing adequate public and social infrastructure and efficient urban and rural services.

The growth would be achieved by focussing on providing support to “growth pillars” like road, civil aviation, transportation, irrigation, urban development and rural up-gradation. This, he said, would be attained by leveraging strength through “growth leaders” such as power, tourism, industrial development, agribusiness, information technology and biotechnology. The state has institutionalised development by creating various institutions, each catering to a specific sector.

This, it hopes, will help in speedy resolution of investment issues and will proactively resolve investors’ grievances or needs. Medicinal Plant Board, Tourism Board, Livestock Board, Organic Board, Bio-Fuel Board, Bamboo and Fibre Board, SIDCUL, ITDA, UDeC and AEDU have been set up for the purpose.

Mr Chopra emphasised that for a land-locked state with limited surface connectivity, developing air connectivity was of immense importance. He said the test runs of air travel have been successful in Uttaranchal and the state aims to be among the top global tourism destinations by 2010. The thrust would be on targeting high spending tourists, both international and high-end domestic ones.

Top domestic and multinational companies have already committed investments exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. He also said that disaster relief and management work could be undertaken more effectively if air connectivity is provided to disaster prone areas.He said the state had two airports at Jolly Grant and Pant Nagar, three airstrips at Chinyalisaur, Gauchan and Naini Saini and six helistrips at Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Hemkund and Haridwar. Business opportunities existed for investors in the sector and the Uttaranchal government would support infrastructure development by entering into partnerships or JVs, he said.

News Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

21 Mar 2006

ETIG Knowledge Forum on ‘Uttaranchal: A state on the move— Competitive Advantages, Policies and Investment Potential’ in association with the Uttaranchal government was held with a view to bring the government and the industry on a common platform. The discussion focussed on ensuring that talks on public-private partnership (PPP) are not reduced to mere slogans, but touched everyone concerned — the government, the industry and the common man.

The panel members comprised M Ramachandran, Chief Secretary and Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary Industries, Uttaranchal government, Krishan Kalra, Adviser, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Sushil Ramola, President & CEO, SRF Limited, Packaging Film Business, Navaid Khan, CEO, UP West & Uttaranchal Circle, Bharti Tele-Ventures and Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT. TK Arun, Senior Editor, The Economic Times was the moderator for the discussion.

Sanjeev Chopra began with a message from the Chief Minister containing the vision statement and the goals and objectives of the state government. He highlighted the achievements of the young state and the benefits that awaited potential investors. Mr Ramachandran said the Rs 1,000-crore Plan outlay in ’00-01 increased to Rs 2,200 crore in ’05-06, and has now been increased to Rs 4,000 crore for ’06-07. Mr Kalra said the 10th Five Year Plan lay greater emphasis on states for the economic development of the country. He said that when foreign investors come for investment, they are confronted with the stark reality, which is much different from what is projected during road shows. He cautioned the Uttaranchal government not to fall in a similar trap.

Mr Ramola spoke about creating excellence in manufacturing. He spoke of his experiences in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in the UAE, where investors get clearance in five working days and buildings with amenities are leased as office space. He said with increasing competition among states, only those which integrate their actions towards providing the most holistic solution to investors within a set timeframe, would emerge as winners.

Mr Ramola praised the Uttaranchal government’s responsiveness by citing an example from his plant at Kashipur. Earlier, the plant was running on DG sets, as the power situation was not conducive to hitch on the grid. But after Uttaranchal was formed, the situation has improved, and the plant now solely runs on the power purchased from the government, he informed. When his company applied for power to the state government, it got a prompt response. He added that prompt action makes for a conducive environment for investors. He said the vision should be understood and percolate down to the field level. He said though the Uttaranchal government has a progressive vision and policy, it needs a good infrastructure and the right mindset to support it.

Mr Chopra said that Uttaranchal exported goods worth Rs 350 crore in ’04-05. Of this, agro-based and medicinal plants, engineering goods, handicrafts and survey instruments accounted for Rs 160 crore, which the government plans to increase to Rs 420 crore by the year ’09-10. He said the state had various institutions for different sectors, which helped priority sectors to get focused attention and cut down approval time.

Mr Kalra said there is a huge opportunity for industrialisation since Uttaranchal is sparsely populated, but said the government should be careful not to destroy the fragile ecology of the state. Mr Ramola said the adoption of the management philosophy ‘control by exception’ would help the state grow at a faster clip.

Mr Khan said that Uttaranchal had a potential for producing 25,000 MW electricity, which can help bridge the demand-supply gap. Mr Kalra said the Indian economy will be close to that of the US by ’45 and its electricity production would fall short. The hydroelectricity potential of Uttaranchal, which stands at 20,000 MW, would help in bridging the demand-supply gap, then.

He added that hydroelectricity could bridge the gap nationally, if captive power plants are allowed to sell their excess electricity to the state through a power purchasing agreement, which can then be fed into the national grid. He also suggested that renovation and refurbishment of the existing plants could release a lot of unutilised capacities; higher plant load factors may be achieved. All these measures can go a long way in bridging the national gap in demand and supply of electricity requirement.
Mr Ramachandran said projects are lined up in the power sector to generate 14,000 MW of power over the next eight years. The overall project cost is estimated at Rs 70,000 crore at Rs 5 crore/MW. By ’06, 2000 MW will be added through the Tehri power project. The Uttaranchal government aims to achieve 100% village electrification by 2007 and 100% household electrification by 2009, he added. The objective focuses on both quality and quantity.

Mr Ramachandran said the six-laning of the Delhi-Dehradun highway till Meerut and four-laning from Meerut to Dehradun is under consideration and hopes the access control expressway is extended to Dehradun. The Muzzaffarnagar-Roorkee rail route would reduce the travel time to half, he said, adding that he was optimistic that transportation cost would come down once the volume grew at the inland container depot (ICD), Rudrapur. He said Air Deccan flights in the state, which once ran at a capacity of about 30-40%, now run at full capacity.

Mr Mehta said the increasing manufacturing demand for cell phones and computer hardware should be tapped. Policy changes favouring manufacturing and equity participation in high-end IT manufacturing will help in developing them. Many Taiwanese companies want to set up shop in India, because of its strategic location. Convergence in IT manufacturing and IT, ITeS or BPO is anticipated. He said many companies didn’t want excise duty benefits, as they can drawback the duty on the exported items.

Mr Khan said Golf tourism could be looked at, given Uttaranchal’s topography. He said Dubai has many golf courses, and has built luxury hotels for golf tourists. He said Airtel was focusing on developing telecom infrastructure in rural areas, and towns and villages having more than 10,000 people would have mobile connectivity. He suggested connectivity can be increased by providing affordable telecom solutions like low cost handset bundles and shared phones.

News Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Dehra Dun, 16 Mar 2006

Fifty-six tehsils across 11 districts in Uttaranchal have been declared drought-hit areas. even as the state government asked the Centre to send a team to assess the situation.

“We have declared 56 tehsil as drought-affected areas,” said M C Joshi, Additional Secretary (Disaster Management) said today.

Chief Minister N D Tiwari has instructed all senior officials to provide immediate relief to the affected people. He has also spoken to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in this regard.

Joshi said the government was preparing a memorandum to be submitted to the Centre regarding the details of the drought-situation in the state.

He said that Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, main areas of agriculture, have not been affected by drought-like conditions.

Joshi said all departments as well as district collectors have been asked to send report on the drought situation.

“In view of the drought-like conditions, we have submitted a Rs 16 crore proposal for installing new hand-pumps and supplying drinking water through tankers in Tehri and Almora districts,” Harsh Pati Uniyal, Chief General Manager of state ‘Jal Sansthan’, said.

MeT Office Director Anand Sharma said that rainfall in the past few days has provided some relief to farmers but added that the five month long dryspell must have done some damage to the crops.

News Source: http://www.newkerala.com

14 Mar 2006
Rajya Sabha

The Government is working towards the development of the aviation sector in Uttaranchal. This information was given to the Parliament by Shri Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation in the Rajya Sabha today.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) owns the airports at Dehradun and Pantnagar in Uttranchal. The airport at Dehradun is being upgraded by AAI for operation of B-737/A-320 class of aircraft considering traffic potential and requirement projected by airlines. Pantnagar airport is also being upgraded for ATR-42 operation on the request of airlines.

Further Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd. also plans to diversify/connect to important tourist/tourism places in Uttaranchal such as Ghangharia, Hemkund Sahib etc subject to necessary permissions.

State Government of Uttaranchal had requested AAI to examine suitability for upgrading of airstrips developed by them at Pithoragarh and Gauchar. Both these airstrips were not found suitable for operation of 20/50 seater class of aircraft due to their location and surrounding terrain.

News Source: http://pib.nic.in

Dehradun, 12 Mar 2006

The work on 304-MW Maneri Bhali Hydel Project-II in Uttarkashi district, the largest power project by Uttaranchal government, is in its final stages and power generation is expected to begin by this year end, top officials today said.

The construction of a 16-km long underground tunnel from Joshiyara to Dharasu for carrying Bhagirathi river water for the Rs 957 crore project has reached its last stage.

Only 290 meter of digging work is left, Avadh Bihari Giri, the Chief Managing Director of Uttaranchal Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited which is implementing the project, said.

The tunnel has a diameter of 6 meter with a capacity to carry 142 cumex of water, Giri said.

The work on barrage and power house is also in its final stage, he said adding one of the four units of the power house were ready while the rest would soon be completed.

The project was conceptualized in the 1960s and its first phase of 90 mw was commissioned in 1984. But the work on 304 mw second phase was disrupted in 1990 due to paucity of funds but was later resumed in 2002 when Chief Minister N D Tiwari took personal interest in the project and got Rs 800 crore loan sanctioned from the Power Finance Corporation for the completion of the project.

State power minister Amrita Rawat said the project would produce 1566 million units of power per year and earn an annual revenue of Rs 350 cr for the hill state.

News Source: http://www.outlookindia.com

Dehradun, 5 Mar 2006

The Union Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, urged the Uttaranchal Government here over the weekend to expeditiously send him proposals aimed at developing the export potential of agriculture, medicinal plants and handicrafts as an important revenue generator for the masses.

Addressing newspersons after a meeting with agro exporters and senior officials, Mr. Ramesh said that exports did not merely mean earning dollars but creation of a lot of earning opportunities through direct and indirect employment for the poorest.

To a query, the Minister said that given the right direction the people of Uttaranchal — known for massive social actions like the Chipko movement — could successfully convert the State into one big enterprise where everyone gained through mutual efforts. He assured all financial and technical assistance for upgradation of cultivation, processing and marketing skills.

Urging officials to make real-time efforts to develop Uttaranchal as the capital of medicinal plants by promoting cultivation of important herbs that had a ready market, he said his ministry would clear all feasible proposals for Medicinal Plants Processing Zone.

News Source: http://www.hindu.com