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Industrial Package for HP, Uttarakhand
Top BJP leaders meet PM
Shimla, July 7
The top brass of the BJP, including L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, today pleaded the restoration of the special industrial package given to Himachal and Uttrakhand as they accompanied Chief Ministers of the two hill states during their meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi.
At the meeting held with Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today, the senior BJP leadership said the expiry of the central excise exemption would severely impact the pace of industrial investment in the two hill states, which otherwise had limited avenues of employment. Chief Minister of Himachal PK Dhumal and his Uttrakhand counterpart Ramesh Pokhriyal urged the PM to restore the package.
Being BJP-ruled states, the Chief Ministers had decided to take up the fight for the restoration of the industrial package jointly. They had decided to take the support of their central leaders to strengthen their case for extension of the industrial package, which expired on April 1, 2010.
Dhumal, after his meeting with Manmohan Singh, said he was hopeful that the PM would not disappoint the two states as their industrial development depended mainly on extension of the industrial package given by the NDA regime.
Having accused the UPA regime of discriminating with non-Congress-ruled states, BJP national president Nitin Gadkari had said at a rally he addressed here in May that the BJP was with the people of the state in their fight for their rights.
Incidentally, both Dhumal and Rajya Sabha MP and national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar had sought the help of their central leadership in getting Himachal its due.
Both states fear that the expiry of the excise duty exemption from April 1 earlier this year would affect the pace of industrial development in the hill states. It was in March 2003 that the NDA regime under Vajpayee had given the package to Himachal and Uttrakhand. It was later reduced to 2007 when the UPA assumed power but later restored till March 2010.
With Punjab and Haryana opposing the extension of the industrial package to Himachal, the Central Government has so far not obliged the two hill states. Infact, yesterday at a meeting of the Chief Ministers with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Dhumal said if need be, the Centre could give a similar package to hilly areas in Morni in Haryana and Pathankot in Punjab.
Top BJP leaders meet PM
Shimla, July 7
The top brass of the BJP, including L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, today pleaded the restoration of the special industrial package given to Himachal and Uttrakhand as they accompanied Chief Ministers of the two hill states during their meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi.
At the meeting held with Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today, the senior BJP leadership said the expiry of the central excise exemption would severely impact the pace of industrial investment in the two hill states, which otherwise had limited avenues of employment. Chief Minister of Himachal PK Dhumal and his Uttrakhand counterpart Ramesh Pokhriyal urged the PM to restore the package.
Being BJP-ruled states, the Chief Ministers had decided to take up the fight for the restoration of the industrial package jointly. They had decided to take the support of their central leaders to strengthen their case for extension of the industrial package, which expired on April 1, 2010.
Dhumal, after his meeting with Manmohan Singh, said he was hopeful that the PM would not disappoint the two states as their industrial development depended mainly on extension of the industrial package given by the NDA regime.
Having accused the UPA regime of discriminating with non-Congress-ruled states, BJP national president Nitin Gadkari had said at a rally he addressed here in May that the BJP was with the people of the state in their fight for their rights.
Incidentally, both Dhumal and Rajya Sabha MP and national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar had sought the help of their central leadership in getting Himachal its due.
Both states fear that the expiry of the excise duty exemption from April 1 earlier this year would affect the pace of industrial development in the hill states. It was in March 2003 that the NDA regime under Vajpayee had given the package to Himachal and Uttrakhand. It was later reduced to 2007 when the UPA assumed power but later restored till March 2010.
With Punjab and Haryana opposing the extension of the industrial package to Himachal, the Central Government has so far not obliged the two hill states. Infact, yesterday at a meeting of the Chief Ministers with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Dhumal said if need be, the Centre could give a similar package to hilly areas in Morni in Haryana and Pathankot in Punjab.
