Raipur, Nov 14 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Thursday launched the state's industrial policy for 2024-2030, which gives additional incentives to women, third gender persons, retired Agniveers and surrendered Naxalites to create startups.
Under the new policy, the state government will provide training allowance of Rs 15,000 for each new employee hired by industries that employ more than 1,000 local workers, provided that the employee remains in the job for at least 12 months.
The Chhattisgarh Industrial Development Policy 2024-30 is aimed at driving economic growth, generating employment, and fostering sustainable industrial development, Sai said at the launch programme here in the evening.
"The new policy, which will come into effect from Thursday, focuses on employment generation, skill development, export promotion, investment attraction, and environmental protection," he said.
"Till now, industrial policies have been drafted keeping in mind economic, social conditions and basic facilities. This is the first time we have set the goal of building a developed Chhattisgarh keeping in mind the Amrit Kaal of the country's Independence and vision of building a developed India as per Vision-2047," he said.
One of the key features of the policy is the focus on youth employment, with industries encouraged to hire local youth to help them directly benefit from the state's industrial growth, he said.
The government will provide training allowance of Rs 15,000 for each new employee hired by industries that employ more than 1,000 local workers, provided the employee remains employed for at least 12 months, he said.
"Additionally, the policy covers 75 per cent of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) contribution for the first five years of employment, which is aimed at easing the financial burden on employers while encouraging the long-term retention of local talent. We are probably the first state to have made provision for special grants and exemptions to young Agniveers and Naxal-affected families for setting up their own employment businesses," Sai said.
"The policy encourages investment in tourism and health in the state. This will develop tourism as an industry in our state. An industrial area will be set up on 118 acres of land near Jagdalpur (the headquarter of Bastar district). Land will be allotted to industries there within the next 12 months," the CM said.
Rules have been relaxed to encourage the setting up of private industrial areas and the earlier criteria of "minimum 20 acres of land" has been brought down to "15 acres of land", he said.
"We are committed to providing self-employment to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe youth. For this, we are giving land in industrial areas to entrepreneurs of these categories at the rate of only Rs 1 per acre," he said.
Highlighting the features of the new policy, a government official said there is provision of additional incentives to women entrepreneurs, members of the third gender, retired Agniveer soldiers, retired ex-servicemen (including those belonging to paramilitary personnel), entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and surrendered Naxalites to create start ups.
"The policy offers 40 per cent subsidy on the salary for industries hiring people with disabilities. This subsidy, which will be available for up to five years, has a maximum limit of Rs 5 lakh per employee annually. The policy introduces special benefits for women and youth interested in starting their own businesses. A corpus fund of Rs 50 crore has been set up to assist startups," he added.
Additionally, under the 'Udyam Kranti Yojana', the government will offer subsidized loans to help young people become self-reliant by starting their own businesses, the official said.
"A noteworthy development in this policy is the segmentation of packages for MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) and large industries, with specific incentives tailored for each. In the service sector, different incentives will be offered to MSMEs and large enterprises, particularly in industries like engineering, research and development, tourism, and entertainment," he said.
The policy targets high-potential sectors like pharmaceuticals, textiles, agriculture and food processing, non-wood forest products, green hydrogen, electronics, AI, robotics as well as solar energy, offering special incentives to attract investment.
"To promote exports from the state, a Foreign Trade Assistance Centre will be set up in Raipur in collaboration with national level institutions like IIFT, Kolkata. Through this centre, exporters will be helped in selecting new products, get assistance in formalities required for exports," the official said.
Another standout feature of the policy is its provision for industries engaged in Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and computing, he said.
"To support these cutting-edge sectors, the policy offers a 100 per cent reimbursement of state GST for 12 years, or a grant of up to 50 per cent of the investment in related projects, with a maximum grant limit of Rs 450 crore. Investors will receive financial assistance in the form of interest subsidies, capital subsidies, stamp duty exemptions, electricity duty exemptions, and VAT reimbursements," he said.