CII delegation meets Deshmukh

Mumbai, Aug 9 (UNI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilashrao Deshmukh today assured the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation that issues hampering Industrial growth in the State will be resolved on a top priority.

The Chief Minister, in his interaction with the high-level CII delegation, said various issues affecting the industrial growth in the state including power crisis, Octroi levy, amendment of archaic Maharashtra Factory Rules 1963, etc, will be looked into in detail and sorted out on a priority basis.

Deshmukh said his Government was aware of the shortfall of 5000 MW of electricity admist the growing demand. However, he said considering the several factors, the state will need at least five more years to restore 24X7 power supply round the year.

Deshmukh also assured that the new Committee, headed by the Urban Development Secretary, Benjamin, has made considerable progress in the matter of abolishing Octroi levy and it will be soon abolished.

The CII delegation also drew the attention of Deshmukh that Maharashtra was far-behind in comparison to states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat on the issue of fast paced industrialisation.

The other points raised by the delegation was amendments to the archaic Maharashtra Factory Rules 1963 and repealing of the Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act (ULCRA), which the Chief Minister assured would be repealed.

Later, the delegation briefed Deshmukh on the CII paper on Maharashtra 'Vision 2020' and a Skill mapping study of the state.

UNI