TS-iPASS

Paving the way for what is touted to be the most industry-friendly policy in the country, the Telangana assembly gave its seal of approval to the ambitious `Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System Bill' (TS-iPASS) that promises to make doing business in the state “as easy as shaking hands“ by conferring the `Right to Single Window Clearance' on potential investors and penalizing truant government officials.
The Bill states that “in a bid to enhance the `ease of doing business' quotient in the state, a Right to Single Window Clearance, on the lines of the Right to Information Act, will be bestowed on all applicants and penal action will be imposed on the officers who delay applications“.
Stating that the vision for industrialization of Telangana is `Research to Innovation: Innovation to Industry: Industry to Prosperity', the policy goes on to say that the industrial policy framework is driven by the slogan `In Telangana Innovate, Incubate, Incorporate'.
Laying emphasis on unleashing the state's manufacturing prowess, the policy talks about the state churning out high quality goods at the most competitive prices to put the `Made in Telangana, Made in India' brand on the global map. This it intends to do by setting up at least six dedicated industrial corridors in two phases, including a Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor, and establishing sector-specific clusters for 14 core sectors such as IT, life sciences, textiles, automobiles, FMCG, precision engineering (aerospace and defence), logistics & transportation, and gems & jewellery. Each of these sectors will also have its own dedicated sectoral policy and a structure of incentives.
The government also promises to provide uninterrupted power to industry by setting up a dedicated discom for industrial parks and reserving 10% of water in all irrigation projects for industrial purposes. Confident of its vision, the Telangana government pointed out that the new industrial policy would help the state achieve a growth rate of 4-5% higher than the national growth rate in the manufacturing sector.However, it did not specify any time frame for achieving this.
The government has also charted out plans to encourage SMEs, women and SC&ST entrepreneurs by making provisions for allocation of land parcels, creation of exclusive industrial parks, direct funding of programmes and implementing credit guarantee scheme for them.
The government will also be launching the Telangana State Program for Rapid Incubation of Dalit Entrepreneurs (TS-PRIDE), under which it will provide sops such as preferential allotment of plots in industrial parks and interest subsidy for service sector units (except transport sector) to encourage dalit entrepreneurs.
Reviving the handicrafts sector through the Telangana State Handicrafts and Artisans Revival with Technology (T-HART) is also high on the agenda and the policy promises to provide technology upgradation, setting up of design support centres, common facility centres, IP and GI registration support and marketing assistance to the sector.
Meanwhile, the government said it has estimated that about 20 lakh acres is unfit for cultivation in the state and based on a detailed survey of such land parcels, an industrial land bank will be developed. “Such land will be transferred to the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC). Once the lands identified are transferred to TSIIC, it will determine the suitability of each land parcel for setting up core sector specific industrial parks,“ it added.
On the industrial corridor front, the government has mooted plans of developing three industrial corridors along roadways connecting Hyderabad to Warangal, Nagpur and Bengaluru in the first phase and from Hyderabad to Mancherial, Nalgonda and Khammam in the second phase.
“Subsequently, other corridors will also be identified on similar lines and detailed studies will be conducted to prepare the master plan for each corridor. Ultimately, each district headquarters of the state will be connected by high speed rail and road network,“ the policy said, adding that the intention is to create at least two core sector specific industrial parks for each sector.