Hooda counters Opposition attack on SEZ issue

Hisar, Sep 29 (UNI) Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today denied the allegations being levelled by the Opposition regarding the setting up of Special Economic Zones in the state, saying no fertile land was being utilised for this purpose.

Talking to reporters here, the Chief Minister said out of a total land mass of 1.09 crore acres in the state, industrial units were spread over an area of its merely 0.2 per cent and industrial units would be set up over only one per cent of its area in the next 15 years.

When his attention was drawn towards the allegations levelled by INLD leaders in that no developmental work was being undertaken in the state, Mr Hooda said a total investment of only Rs 41,000 crore had been made in the state during the past 40 years since its inception.

On the other hand, proposals involving an investment of Rs 40,000 crore had been received during a short period of one-and-a-half years of the present government.

When his attention was drawn to the opposition demand for resignation or dismissal of Haryana Power Minister Venod Sharma in connection with his alleged role in the Jessica Lal murder case, he said the law would take its own course.

Opposition INLD is demanding Mr Sharma's scalp in the wake of allegations that he bought a witness in the Jessica Lal murder case to change his statement. The Minister's son Manu Sharma was the main accused in the case.

He said he would leave for a ten-day tour to Europe for inviting industrialists to invest in Haryana.

To a question, Mr Hooda described Mr Bhajan Lal's tea parties and criticism of the functioning of the government by the latter's MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi as their personal affair. Therefore, he said, he would not like to comment on it.

To aother question, Mr Hooda said the government had not imposed any tax on wood but it has reduced it from 12 per cent to four per cent. As far as the issue of closure of saw mills and wood units was concerned, it had been done as per the directions of the High Court, he added.

Earlier, the Chief Minister addressed a state-level 'sammelan' of Nambardars organised by the Haryana Nambardar Association where he announced that identity cards would be issued to all 22,000 Nambardars for their identification in public and the administration.

UNI MA HS RK2017