Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that the idea behind the creation of five manufacturing investment regions is to see how foreign direct investment can be further liberalized. He made this statement at a press conference in New Delhi on July 11 as reported by zeenews.com.
The regions would provide infrastructure and single window clearance, according to zeenews but no fiscal incentives.
FDI in manufacturing grew 75% to $2 billion last fiscal year and the government is looking at doubling it in the next two years, said Nath. "In April manufacturing grew 10.4%," Nath said, adding that in May growth in manufacturing was 12.2 %.
Five coastal states, Orissa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, are already in the process of establishing these regions which would not be given new fiscal concessions. Ajay Dua, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy, said that some regions might quality for infrastructure funding. These regions may include special economic zones, industrial parks, IT parks and export oriented units.
Engineering goods, pharmaceuticals and leather were three industries under consideration where changes would be made to remove procedural bottlenecks, according to the article.
