The Himachal Pradesh government prioritising the interests of the state has decided to build a medical device park in Nalagarh of Solan district on its own resources.

A government spokesperson said here on Friday that the state government has decided to return Rs 30 crore received from the central government for this project to be built on 265 acres of land at a cost of Rs 350 crore.

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If the state government does not return this money, it would have to provide land to the industrialists at Rupee one per square metre, electricity at Rs 3 per unit, water, maintenance and warehouse facilities for ten years without any charge, he said.

Most of the equipment manufactured in this medical device park will be sold outside the state, but this would also cause direct loss to the state treasury due to NSGST, he said.

Therefore, to overcome this binding, a decision has been taken to build the medical device park by itself due to which the state is expected to benefit by Rs 500 crore in the coming 5-7 years from the sale of land and other resources, he added.

The state government will provide incentives to the industries coming to the Medical Device Park as per its industrial policy, said the spokesperson.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, “The present state government would not allow the resources of Himachal Pradesh to be plundered at any cost. The people of Himachal Pradesh have a right over these resources and the state government will take every step to protect the interests of the people of the state. If the money of the central government was not returned, then the industrialists would have to be given the mandatory incentives, which would put a huge burden on the state exchequer thereby resulting in loss of revenue. The state government has so far released Rs 74.95 crore for this project and we are constructing the Medical Device Park on priority.”

Earlier also the state government has decided not to take help from any private agency in the Bulk Drug Park being built in Haroli of Una district. The state government will provide Rs1,000 crore from its own resources for the construction of the bulk drug park, said the Chief Minister.

For the construction of the medical device park at Nalagarh, the state government has decided to take a loan from SIDBI under the cluster development scheme.

Hence, while restructuring the project, 25 per cent of the land will be allotted exclusively for medical device industries and 75 per cent for other strategic industries, which will ensure industrial development in the region.

“This industrial park will be developed as a state-of-the-art industrial hub in Himachal Pradesh, which will become a regular source of income for the state government along with economic development and better infrastructure in the coming years,” he said.