Bhubaneswar | Nov 22, 2016: The State Cabinet approved 21 proposals at a meeting presided over by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here today.
Talking to media persons after the meeting, chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said the cabinet approved the amendment in the Odisha Minor Minerals Concession Rules-2016. Under the new rules, some major minerals like quartz, quartzite, fireclay, dolomite, China clay will be now considered as minor minerals.
“It has been decided that the state government will auction the aforesaid minor minerals with a lease period of 30 years. Apart from this, materials used in construction like sand, morum soil and stone would be brought under mining lease mechanism and the state government would be auctioned for five years,” he said, adding that the decision to increase royalty on minor minerals would be made three and half times in every three years.
The state government has decided to provide various incentives to the investors to set up their projects in the state.
The Renewable Energy Policy, which will remain in force until March 2022, envisages to achieve around 2,750 MW renewable energy from the non-conventional sources in the state by the year 2022.
The state government shall provide a corpus of Rs 250 crore (Rs 50 crore per year) over a period of five years for the creation of a revolving fund namely Odisha Renewable Energy Development Fund, said Padhi.
Besides, the cabinet also cleared a proposal on government guarantee of Rs 1100 crore for Gridco. As other states do not have renewable energy policy, the state cabinet has approved this proposal, the chief secretary pointed out.
This fund will be utilised for development of infrastructure required for the accelerated development of renewable energy, he added.
Moreover, under Odisha apparel policy 2016, the state government has targeted to create one lakh to 1.5 lakh jobs in next five years.
“For apparel units where employment is minimum 200 workers, the unit will receive incentives of Rs 1,000 per worker per month on actual employment by the unit, on financial year basis. This facility will be available for a period of 36 months,” said the chief secretary.
Apart from this, the Cabinet approved Odisha Tourism Policy in which the state government would provide capital investment subsidy to the tune of 20 percent subject to a ceiling of Rs 10-15 crore depending on the project cost. “To attract the entrepreneurs, the state government would set up a land bank to provide them the land at 5 percent interest subsidy,” Padhi said.
The proposal for constitution of Odisha state Higher Education Council also received the Cabinet nod. The Council would be headed by the Higher Education minister as its chairperson. The Council will have a vice chairperson and 15 persons as members. “Constitution of this Council has been decided as per the requirement of the Rashtriya Ucchatar Siksha Abhijan (RUSA).
The Cabinet cleared amendment in Odisha Agricultural Produce Markets Act, new transit rules, 2016 for Odisha Sandalwood Board to bring more restrictions in dealing the transit, issuance of license, possession and sale of this valuable wood.
It also approved amendment in the Odisha Forensic Science Service Amendment Rules, and cleared the new MSME Development Policy-2016 and Food Processing Policy, 2016.
Under the new Food Processing Policy, the state government has made a provision for capital subsidy of 25 percent subject to a maximum of Rs 2 crore. Besides, the government will also provide subsidy for setting up of a NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories) accredited testing laboratory which is an important item in the food processing. The test would be conducted both at the government and private sectors.
In the MSME policy, the state government has enhanced capital investment subsidy to new units from 10 per cent to 25 per cent subject to the upper limit of Rs 1 crore.
To boost the growth of MSME in industrial backward districts, an additional capital investment subsidy of 5 per cent would be provided.
Among others, the Cabinet decided to reduce the Revenue Stamp duty for women in the purchase of land and building from 5 percent to 4 percent.
It also approved amendment in the Grant-in-Aid Act, 2013 to increase the monthly emoluments of the high school, upper primary, Madrasa and Sanskrit toll teachers by 25 percent with 3 percent annual increment hike.
The new cadre and recruitment rules of the social security officers at the block and sub division and district level also got Cabinet nod.
The Cabinet also approved the new Health Care Investment policy. “Since health care services in 11 districts of Odisha are not very high, the government has decided to encourage private investment in this sector with 30 percent capital investment subsidy,” the chief secretary informed.
Besides, it also approved the new Pharma Policy in which the state government will provide 50 subsidy subject to a cap of Rs 10 crore if the concerned company will set up its industry in the cluster area. The government will also provide capital investment subsidy up to 10 percent.
The cabinet also cleared a proposal in the amendment in the Odisha Education Tribunal Rules. Once this new Rule is passed, a copy of it would be given to the state government.
(Source: http://odishatv.in/)