Title - Star attraction BBN loses shine

With limited employment avenues in the public sector, the state’s unemployed youth have been relying on the private industry for jobs.However, in the absence of high-employment-generating information technology-based units, the number of jobs created in the past few years has been less than expected. As many as 57,441 people were employed in private industry during the present BJP government’s tenure, out of which 45,919 were Himachalis.Industry in the state received an impetus with the grant of a 10-year incentive package in 2003, which was announced by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. It meant an income tax holiday, central excise exemption, capital investment subsidy and transport subsidy extended to new entrepreneurs as well as to existing units that undertook substantial expansion.The package helped transform the industrially backward Himachal to a developing economy, with the share of industry in the Gross State Domestic Product increasing from 1.1 per cent in 1950-51 to 9.4 in 1990-91 and 11.7 per cent in 2010-11.The package, however, became a bone of contention between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, as the 10-year tax holiday was curtailed to seven years by the Congress-led Union government under pressure from the Congress-ruled neighbouring states. Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim, which had also been extended a similar tax holiday, continued to enjoy the benefits for the full term. The incentive of capital investment subsidy was also reduced to 15 per cent in Himachal, while it was 30 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir.

The industry zone

As much as 70 per cent of the state’s industry is concentrated in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) belt and a few other industrial clusters such as Paonta Sahib, Kala Amb, Mehatpur, Una, Sansarpur Terrace, and Gol Thai.

Availability of adequate hostels for workers is the most pressing problem in the BBN belt, where thousands of migrant labourers have been residing in slums in unhygienic conditions.

Infrastructure needed

Lack of rail connectivity to the area is another concern. Several Union budgets have announced survey for rail lines to connect BBN and Paonta Sahib to the national network, but little has happened in that direction.

The much-awaited Rs 53-crore freight station being set up at Baddi could not be developed into a full-fledged inland container depot in the absence of rail connectivity.

New roads have been constructed in the BBN area, but their poor upkeep is a cause of concern. The inordinate delay in constructing new bridges at Chikni and Shitalpur has added to the problems, especially during the rains.

The increasing industrialisation has also raised problems related to water and air pollution, affecting the quality of life in the area. A Common Effluent Treatment Plant is, however, being set up at a cost of Rs 82.3 crore to ease the problem of pollution.

With limited skills available among the state’s youth to match the requirements of various industries, most have been able to secure only middle-rung or low positions. Though a skill development centre is coming up at Baddi and one pharmaceutical training centre has been set up by the industry, much more is required.

The government is trying to improve the infrastructure in the BBN area by setting up a trade centre at a cost of Rs 10.81 crore. Apart from this, two labour hostels with a capacity of 950 each are being constructed at a cost of Rs 23 crore for men and women.

Prem Sharma, president of the Nalagarh Industries Association, says the lack of proper roads in several parts of the BBN area is a major problem, as it damages machinery and material being transported. Proper upkeep of link roads and construction of dilapidated bridges will help sustain the industry. He added the curtailment of the incentive package had adversely hit industrial growth, and the state government would now have to address problems related to infrastructure to sustain the units that had been set up in the state.

YS Guleria, general secretary of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association, said measures like shifting the office of the state Drug Controller to Baddi, opening a sub-tehsil at Baddi, converting BBN into a separate district with a Superintendent of Police to maintain law and order and an Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner to speed up work had facilitated the industry. With projects such as a tool room, trade centre and skill upgrade centre coming up, units operating in the area would be better equipped.

WHAT BADDI NEEDS

Industrial training for youth Adequate hostels for workers Connectivity to national rail network Proper upkeep of roads Check on water and air pollution 7-YEAR PARTY

Total industrial units in state: 38,832 Units set up after Central incentive package announced in 2003: 8,631 Investment since 2003: Rs 13,714 crore (employment to 1,12,861) After expiry of incentive package on March 31, 2010: No new units, only expansion of a few existing units. Main industry: Pharmaceuticals (50 per cent of the country); exports worldwide