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Chhattisgarh govt approves new industrial policy revives pilgrimage scheme

Raipur, Oct 28 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh government on Monday approved a new industrial policy to "give a new dimension to development", an official said.
The cabinet of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai also approved the draft of 'Amritkaal: Chhattisgarh Vision @ 2047' document during its meeting at Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhavan in Nava Raipur, a public relations department official said.
"The new industrial policy will be effective from November 1 this year till October 31, 2029. The policy has provisions to realise the vision of Amritkaal Chhattisgarh Vision @ 2047. It will establish new dimensions of industrial development in the state," he said.
The policy amendment made in 2020 by the Union government in the definition of industries in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act has been adopted and a special provision has been made to provide incentives for balanced development, he said.
"To fulfil the objectives of the new industrial policy, industrial investment incentives will be provided for setting up new enterprises, expansion/diversification, replacement and other works in the state. For all-round industrial development, the amount of industrial investment incentives to be given will be determined by dividing the development blocks of all districts into three sectors," the official informed.
The policy has separate provisions for core sector products like steel, cement, thermal power and aluminium and has been divided into thrust and general industries keeping in mind the requirements of the state, he said.
"Provision has been made to provide attractive industrial investment incentives for pharmaceutical, textile, food processing, agricultural product preservation, NTFP processing electronic products, IT etc," the official pointed out.
In another key decision, the cabinet has given the nod to restart 'Maukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana' in the state as per BJP's poll promise, he said.
Under the scheme, persons of 60 years of age or above, Divyangjan (people with disabilities), widows, abandoned women will be provided free travel to one or more pilgrimage sites outside the state once in their lifetime.
For this, a provision of Rs 25 crore has been made in the first supplementary budget of 2024-25, the official said.
The Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana was started in 2012 when Raman Singh was chief minister.
"Under the scheme, till 2019, a total of 2.47 lakh beneficiaries were taken to pilgrimage centres. In 2019 (under the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government), the name of the scheme was changed to Teerth Barat Yojana but pilgrimages were not conducted till 2023," the official said.
The cabinet also decided to implement the National Education Policy 2020 in the state's Technical Education Department, he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)