CII team to explore scope for industrial development

Itanagar, May 15 (UNI) Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) deputy director general (DDG) Sushanta Sen has assured Arunachal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) to send a team of industrialists to assess the possibility of setting up of industries in Arunachal in collaboration with local entrepreneurs. The assurance came last evening when an ACCI delegation led by its president Techi Lala and general secretary Tarak Nachung Tariang called on Sen and CII member Krisi Cajee who arrived here on Saturday last on their maiden two-day visit to the state.

The ACCI, in a memorandum, highlighted the poor economic condition of the resource-rich state for want of a well defined industrial policy and sought the CII's intervention in boosting the ailing economy of the entire North Eastern region.

Responding to their plea to encourage private enterprises in the industrial sector, Sen assured that big corporate houses, like Pepsi and Godrej, would visit the sate soon to explore the possibilities of establishing industries in partnership with the locals, he was quoted by Lala as saying.

The ACCI delegates also urged the CII authorities to move the state government to introduce remission scheme like Asom to exempt industries from value added tax (VAT) and provide lucrative incentives on the lines of Asom and Meghalaya governments to encourage and attract outside investment and convince the central government to declare North-East as an industrial zone.

While promising to request the ministry concerned to initiate steps in this regard to herald a new era of economic development in the state, Sen said poor road and air connectivity had retarded industrial growth of the state. He suggested that private players could be involved to set up small airfields to fly small fixed wing aircraft while the railway ministry could be asked to put Arunachal in the railway map of the country.

Realizing the huge agri-horticulture potentials of the state, the CII DDG promised to provide assistance in creating infrastructure and marketing networks to benefit the farmers of the state, informed Nachung, adding ACCI also urged CII to sponsor visit of officials, farmers and entrepreneurs to study agricultural development abroad. As CII has decided to set up its office in Mizoram and Tripura, ACCI also pleaded for such facility so that hydropower-rich Arunachal could immensely benefit from the CII, Lala added.

The CII team is here to hold discussion and sign a memorandum of understanding(MoU) to start MBA course from 2006-07 academic year with Rajiv Gandhi University.

UNI UPB PL RD 1429