Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said the industries in the state have been severely affected due to the lockdown as well as migration of the labourers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that out of about 3636 corona cases in the state, 800 cases were from the industrial areas of the state.

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While addressing the inaugural session of a webinar organised by the CII here on ’HP Economic Summit-Getting the Growth Back’, the Chief Minister said the COVID- 19 pandemic, which has adversely affected the world economy, has also affected the targets set by the state government after the success of the Global Investors Meet held in Dharamshala in November last year.

“The economy has reached the lowest ebb, but we are committed to revive the same and achieve the targets of Global Investors meet as well,” he said.

Thakur said HP offers attractive incentives under the Industrial Investment Policy to boost industrialization across the state and make it more attractive and industry-friendly. The CM said that various policies such as tourism policy, film policy, information technology policy, AYUSH Policy and affordable housing policy have been framed to attract investment in these sectors.

He said that the state government has taken a holistic view to make Himachal Pradesh an industrial hub of the country. He said that private sector participation could be fruitful in areas like tourism, infrastructure and industrial infrastructure, including housing, power generation, Controlled Atmosphere (CA) store, software technology parks etc.

Thakur said that efforts would be made to expedite the work on four-laning of the road passing through industrial areas. He said that steps were being taken to persuade the Union Government to ensure railway connectivity in Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh industrial area in Solan district.

Thakur said that check dams would be constructed to ensure water conservation in the industrial areas to solve the water problem. He said that in the MSME sector, the state was endeavouring hard to achieve the target set by the Union government. The CM said the state government was expecting that the Himachal Pradesh would surely get one Bulk Drug Park out of the three Bulk Drugs Parks to be set up by the Union Government.

Industries Minister Bikram Singh Thakur said that the state government was committed to provide all possible assistance for revival of the MSME in the state. He also thanked the industry for providing effective cooperation to the state government in coping up with the pandemic.

Additional Chief Secretary, Industries, Ram Subhag Singh said that the state government has constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee for revival of the economy of the state.