New investors will have to wait for a new industrial policy to invest in Northeast.

Industry in the Northeast is waiting with bated breath on the new industrial policy for the Northeast.

The North East Industrial Development Scheme which came into force on April 1, 2017 expired on March 31 this year.

The North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS), was aimed at promoting industrialization in NE States and to boost employment and income generation. The 2017 scheme was notified on April 12, 2018.

" At present there is no central policy on promoting industrialisation in NE as on date"a member in a industry trade body of Northeast told BusinessNortheast.

All those who want to set up fresh unit will have to wait for the new policy to come to effect" the member said adding they have not heard when is the new policy going to come.

Not only that, there is so much of delay in notifying the policy and by that time much of the time is lost in availing the benefits.

The business community is of the view that there needs to be a sense of urgency to get the new policy quickly as getting big investments in Northeast has been always difficult.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has already urged MSME Minister Narayan Rane to have a new industrial policy for the North Eastern region.

The NEIDS covered manufacturing and service sector and gave encouragement to MSME in manufacturing, services.

Since inception of NEIDS, Rs.46 crore has been released to the states of NER. During the FY 2021-22, an amount of Rs.30 crore had been released to the states of NER. In the current FY 2022-23, there is a provision of Rs.150.00 crore in budget estimates under NEIDS, 2017.

Various benefits like Central Capital Investment Incentive for access to credit(CCIIAC)
, Central Interest Incentive(CII), Central Comprehensive Insurance Incentive(CCII)
Income Tax(IT) Reimbursement, Goods and Services Tax(GST) Reimbursement Employment Incentive(EI) and Transport Incentive were provided under the policy.

Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), the apex industry association of Northeast India, has called for having an investment policy for NE to leapfrog the development in the region.

The industry association had submitted its views in March for having an exclusive investment policy to NE MPs, which was also attended by Union Minister for Industry and Commerce Piyush Goyal.

The trade body said there is a need for having an exclusive policy for NE as the cost of doing business is high and raw materials are imported and finished products are sold in regional markets with less opportunity for export or movement out of the region. Secondly, it is mostly a consumption economy with a small regional market with the low purchasing power of people and there is poor capital availability in the region.

The industry body said they looking for a stable policy period for 10 years and must be notified and effective from April 1, 2022. It should be exclusive to NorthEast.

It said the share of investment in the NER under North East Industrial and Investment Policy (NEIIPP) 2007 was 8.3% of the national share in 2017, while the percentage of the national share of the NER came down to 0.02% in 2019 under North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS) 2017.

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