PANAJI
The draft of a new industrial policy for Goa was unveiled on Thursday which lays thrust on promoting Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services, besides up-market ventures in the hospitality sector.
Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho who released the draft of the new Industrial policy for the State said it will be open for feedback, scrutiny and suggestions from stakeholders and the general public until the start of the monsoon session of the Assembly in early July.
The 'Goa Industrial Growth and Promotion policy 2022' will focus on reforms which will ensure transparency in land allocation and improve Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) quotient via a single-window system to grant permissions for industries to set up shop here, Godinho said.
Clearances will be granted in a maximum of three months for large industries and in one month for others, he said.
Land reforms and incentives for expansion of existing businesses will be the other focus areas of the new policy, Godinho said, adding that the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) will be given powers by statute to deal with change in land-use issues.
The industries minister said that the provision to make 80 per cent local employment compulsory is not practical and has not been included in the policy but assured that absorption of local human resource will be incentivised.
On the land reforms to be weaved into the policy, Godinho said, his ministry is currently identifying and documenting a land bank, a registry of sorts of industrial land already available in Goa, including in existing Industrial Estates as well as privately held land.
"Details of this land bank will be made available in the public domain on the department's website," Godinho said, adding that it will ensure transparency in the process of allotting land to upcoming industries.
Land maps with details of how much land is available and where it is located will be up on the website, he said.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Goa chapter, meanwhile congratulated Godinho and the government for the thrust given to existing industries and encouragement to new industries through The Goa Industrial Growth and Investment Promotion Policy 2022.
In a statement issued after Godinho unveiled the policy, CII Goa said it thanks the State government for accepting its long standing recommendations and also steps taken to improve Ease of Doing Business for industry in Goa.
The processes for setting up of new industries in a time bound manner, granting of permissions based on a declaration, introducing common application form system and empowering the Investment Promotion Board to authorise land conversions are some of the key proposals in the new policy the CII singled out for appreciation.
CII Goa also welcomed the government’s move to bring in the logistics sector under the ambit of industry an issue it said it had been pursuing for long.
"CII with its Centers of Excellence and advisory support to governments across States in India, will continue to extend support to the Goa government and looks forward to promote ease of doing business for industry and employment generation by providing further inputs to the policy," CII Goa said.
