The state cabinet has approved a bio plastic policy that will offer attractive subsidies to companies that invest in the manufacture of biodegradable and compostable plastic.
Such companies that invest Rs 1,000 crores or more will get 50 per cent subsidy for seven years and 100 per cent reimbursement of state GST for 10 years. Moreover, there will be no duties levied on electricity supply. The caveat is that the entirety of benefits given will not exceed two per cent of the investment made over 10 years. With this kind of investment, one unit would provide upwards of 2,000 jobs.
The UP cabinet on Tuesday discussed the absence of a bio plastic policy in any other state and that by becoming the first to do so, it would encourage bioplastics to be a part of startup value chains.
The other significant decision taken today was to grant industry status to information technology and information technology services.
These services, the cabinet noted, would play an important role in contributing to the one trillion-dollar economy that the state is aiming to become in the next five years.
The grant of industry status means that such services will now be eligible for getting land at such prices which are meant for industrial use. Units which have a minimum electricity usage of 150 KW will also get power at industrial rates. That works out to a saving of 18 per cent just on electricity.
The third important policy initiative approved by the cabinet is the ‘Higher Education Incentive Policy’. This will make private investment, even from foreign sources, in higher education easier. The cabinet noted that private investment would not only enable such education that was more attuned with the needs of the day but also stop students from migrating to other states for such education.