The Sikkim Investment Summit, which was arranged to be held in November, has been postponed till February 2023. This decision was considered in a review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary V.B. Pathak at Tashiling Secretariat on September 17.

The absence of any Centrally-backed industrial promotion schemes such as the North East Industrial Scheme ( NEIDS), 2017 which ended on March 31, 2022, and a State Industrial Policy have been cited as reasons for the postponement.

The Chief Economic Advisor of the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Mahendra P. Lama suggested that an industrial policy would be required to attract potential investors to the State. He directed the Commerce and Industries Department to draw out sub-sectorial policies within the industrial policy for thrust areas like green industries, education and healthcare and wellness. He gave a timeframe of three months to draw up an industrial policy.

The Chief Secretary suggested that a land policy along with the industrial policy would be required for taking land regulations in the State. The focus for this will be on private land banks where investors can set up their industrial units by drawing up a lease agreement with fixed rates.

The recently constituted Sikkim Investment Board would be the apex body overseeing the Sikkim Investment Summit and facilitating investment into the State.

Meanwhile, Sikkim Chief Minister P.S. Golay continues to welcome delegations of potential business investors. On Friday, he met 24 such investors from the country as well as from Malaysia and the United States.

They submitted investment proposals to set up industries in sectors like residential township development, amusement park, power transmission, hydroelectric projects, star category hotels, development of industrial park, apparel sector, craft beverages, education, IT enabled services, diagnostic centres, polyclinics, tourism, coffee, cocoa, spices, bamboo, fruits and vegetable processing with a possible investment of Rs. 1,000 crore.

The investors mostly insisted on land, adequate work force, labour policies and a single window system for the sake of ease of doing business.

CM Golay emphasised on the investor-friendly workforce, road and air connectivity, rail connectivity which will commence from 2024 onwards, labour registration system for the labourers from outside the State, surplus availability of power for industrial sector of the state to the investors. He also informed that township development, high-end hotels, amusement parks, convention centres and wellness tourism are potential sectors for investment in Sikkim.

Golay welcomed non-polluting industries to the State. The investors can have partnership projects with local entrepreneurs and start-ups to have mutual benefits, he said.

The Chief Minister also welcomed the proposals which will benefit the local people and stated that the government will extend all possible assistance for their initiatives.

Curtain raiser events for the Sikkim Investment Summit will be organised in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru to invite investors to the summit. The Industries Department was directed to speed up the process of making a single window system as well as industrial policy for the facilitation of industries in Sikkim.

During the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Commerce and Industries department and the National Institute of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Hyderabad for the development of clusters, entrepreneurship development programme, and the promotion of macro and micro industries.

The MoU is for the facilitation of training for the officials, and beneficiaries, development of incubation facilities, training facilities, and development of cluster projects for local artisans and entrepreneurs.

The Chief Minister stressed that the National Institute of MSME should involve in the skilling of local youth to develop their business to international standards, and relaxation of MSME scheme guidelines as per State requirements rather than as per the population density.

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