by Moiz Mannan
Following up on its earlier incentives and welfare measures for non-resident Indians, the wealthy north Indian state of Haryana has now launched a scheme to involve its diaspora in speeding up development projects. Much like the chief ministers of other major manpower exporting states such as neighbouring Punjab and the southern states, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda has rolled out the red carpet for non-resident Indians with his new ‘Pravasi Haryanvi Bhagidari Vikas Yojna,’ that would encourage those working abroad to become partners in the state’s development.
Hooda himself chaired a meeting of top officials of the state’s rural development and panchayat department in which the scheme received the green signal. The chief minister has approved the setting up of district level committees under the chairmanship of deputy commissioners, which would receive proposals from foreign residents regarding the development projects to be adopted or funded by them. These panels would also provide grievance redressal forum to the NRIs.
A state-level cell would also be created under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to supervise and monitor the functioning of the district committees. The district committee would maintain a database of all NRIs from the district with details of their addresses, etc. Officials said, the aim is provide a single-window clearance mechanism for NRI investors willing to invest in the development of the state.
With an eye on foreign investment and to address the grievances of NRI’s, the Haryana government has already set up a ‘Foreign Investment and NRI Cell’. The Cell acts as a window receiving complaints relating to property, marital disputes, law and order, and other social issues of NRIs. The state home department is the nodal agency and has appoint single point contacts, to which all the grievances received by the Cell would be forwarded and monitored, along with a ‘status tracking facility’ for the person making such correspondence.
An advisory committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister had also been constituted to review the Cell’s action. The Cell is located under Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), which has been designated as the Nodal Agency for investment related matters.
Further, the Haryana government has set up Investment Promotion Centres (IPCs) in Delhi and the state capital, Chandigarh. The IPC is again a Single Point Contact Agency to provide information, guidance and hand holding services for venture location by prospective entrepreneurs particularly with regard to various sanctions and approvals needed for implementation of projects, availability of land and present entrepreneurs in submission for applications or registration to different organisations. This centre has complete database on availability of land, water, power, finance etc. and norms, rules and regulations of all the institutions engaged in industrial development.
The state has a strong locational advantage, in that, it surrounds the national capital from three sides. One-third of Haryana falls under the national capital region (NCR). Further, Panipat, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonepat have a special potential for accelerated socio-economic development. The State offers impressive infrastructure facilities in relation to road and rail network, well-developed industrial estates, good banking facilities, reliable communication network, modern technical institutes and developed commercial markets. Today, Haryana is not only the hub of manufacturing activity, but has also emerged as the corporate hub of India. It has been able to attract sizable investment from multinational companies, large business houses, foreign investors, non-residents Indian (NRIs) and small scale entrepreneurs. Some three years back, the state decided to reserve up to 10 percent of industrial plots or sheds for NRIs and persons of Indian origin (PIO).
Industrial units with 33 percent or more foreign direct investment (FDI) can also avail the benefit of reservation of industrial plots. In case of NRI plots, the entire amount towards the price of the plot would have to be remitted through the Non-resident External Rupee (NRE) Account of the applicant or in remittances from abroad or foreign exchange.
The state’s industrial base in Gurgaon, Manesar, Faridabad, Panipat, Kundli and other places are well-known. Some big names like Maruti-Suzuki, Hero Honda and several others have invested in the state. NRIs and applicants of other categories will apply to the HSIIDC for allotment of industrial plots. Haryana has planned industrial model townships (IMT) and industrial estates in several places across the state, especially in the national capital region (NCR) of New Delhi.
The new industrial estates are located in Panchkula, Bawal, Bahadurgarh, Rai and Kundli while IMTs are coming up at Manesar and Rohtak.
A cluster based approach has been adopted to ensure manufacturing competitiveness of the local industry and to encourage the ancilliarization process. A number of theme parks have been set up at various locations including Food Parks at Saha & Rai, Footwear Park at Bahadurgarh, Textile Park at Barhi, Agricultural Implements Park at Karnal, Electronic Hardware Technology Park at Kundli and IT Parks at Panchkula, Rai & IMT Manesar.
A project of International importance i.e. Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) also includes the state of Haryana. the peninsula
