Chandigarh December 18: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal has urged the Central Government to announce a policy decision regarding buying of unutilized land of Central Public Sector Units by the State Governments which are either running in losses or have been closed in their states.

Mr Manohar Lal was speaking at a meeting of Pre-Budget Consultative Committee of Finance Ministers of States convened by the Union Finance Minister, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi today. The Finance Ministers of other States highly appreciated this proposal of Haryana.

While quoting the example of the land of Central Public Units in Haryana which are lying idle, the Chief Minister said that 205 acres of land of Cement Corporation of India in Dadri and 90 acres of land of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd in Gurugram are lying unutilized. Similarly, 70 acres of land of Hindustan Insecticide Ltd., in Gurugram is also lying unutilized. The Haryana government is ready to buy these lands and he has written letters to the Central Government several times and has also held meetings in this regard.

He said that there has been only one success on this issue of Haryana, which is to purchase the land of HMT Pinjore. Out of 446 acres of land in this public sector unit, the Haryana government purchased 297 acres of land at collector rate and 149 acres of land, with no construction over it, at 60 percent of collector rate in 2018.

He urged that in the budget address, a policy decision should be announced on the issue that if a central public sector unit has been lying closed by Central Government and a state government wants to buy this land, then it would be mandatory for all the public sector undertakings to sell it on collector rate plus 20 per cent. He said that with this decision, the Central public undertakings would get a large amount and the burden on the Union Budget would be reduced.

The Chief Minister said that on the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Haryana in Gurugram on November 2016, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi had said in his address that although Haryana is a small state, it is so powerful that it could act as a growth engine for economy of the country. Working dedicatedly as per the vision of the Prime Minister, Haryana has become a kerosene-free state, an open defecation free state, and a state with educated Panchayats. Similarly, we have improved from the 14th position in Ease of Doing Business rankings to number five and then to number three in the country. We now rank first in the northern states. The Chief Minister said that in the last five years, more than 70,000 youths were given government jobs on merit in a transparent manner besides giving 100 hours of paid work to the same number of graduate and post graduate unemployed youth. Apart from this, lakhs and crores of rupees have been invested in the private sector which generated lakhs of new employment opportunities for the youth of the state.

He said that the growth rate of Haryana in the year 2018-19 has been 8.19 percent, which is more than the national growth rate of 6.81 percent. In the last five years, the per capita income of the state has increased to Rs 2,26,644 while the per capita income of the country has been Rs 1,26, 406 in 2018-19.

The Chief Minister gave three suggestions as how Haryana's efforts could fetch much better results in the forthcoming Union Budget. The Haryana Government and the Ministry of Railways together formed a SVP in the ratio of 50:50 in the year 2017. This SVP named 'Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation' has made proposals for three new railway lines and submitted to the Ministry of Railways. The approval of these three projects is on the advanced stage. He requested that these should come up in the budget address. These three new railway line projects are Karnal-Yamunanagar, Jind-Hansi and Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor. Also, funds should be made available for rapid rail transit system passing through Haryana from Sarai Kalekhon in Delhi to Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Bahrod in Rajasthan. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, he added.

Describing Hisar as one of the most suitable places in Haryana as compared to other states to reduce air pressure at IGI Delhi Airport, the Chief Minister said that under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – UDAN launched by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi aimed at making the affordable travel facility to the people, Hisar and Chandigarh has recently been connected with the air highway. He urged the Union Finance Minister that the Central Government should take initiative to implement this scheme in Haryana more effectively. He said that there is a proposal to develop Hisar Airport in three phases. The government is developing an aviation hub here which would have facilities for maintenance, repair and overhauling of aero planes. Apart from this, training as well as simulation centers would also be set up there. An aerospace / defense manufacturing park would also be developed in this hub, he added.

The Chief Minister said that apart from Hisar, the State government has a proposal to set up another airport in Karnal. He said that the Central Government’s assistance would be taken to supplement efforts to develop a dry port for providing cargo facilities at Hisar Airport.

The Chief Minister has also demanded that additional assistance should be made available to the State through NABARD to compensate the accumulated losses of Rs 3500 crore of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) for the interest waiver scheme started by the State Government to provide debt relief to the farmers.

He said that under the incentive scheme to bridge the irrigation gaps, the State Government has proposed three projects worth Rs 3700 crore for further expansion of irrigation facilities. He said that Haryana has recently got approval for these projects from the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Government of India. He requested to expedite the work for final approval of these projects. He said that the State Government has a proposal to use the funds received from Government of India under Micro Irrigation Fund. The Chief Minister requested the Union Finance Minister to bring the amount under this fund to at least Rs 600 crore in the next financial year so as to bring one lakh hectare area under micro irrigation in the state.

He said that for the development of agriculture, it is necessary that saline land should be improved. He said that according to an estimate, about 4.25 lakh hectares of agricultural land in Haryana is affected by salinity. Therefore, the Central Government is requested that in the first phase of this program, financial assistance should be increased for the improvement of 1.5 lakh hectares saline lands.

The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi's vision of doubling the income of farmers by the year 2022 could only be achieved through crop diversification and by promoting processing and marketing of produce.

He said that the State Government is making special efforts to promote diversification through 'Jal Hi Jeevan Yojana' to encourage farmers to cultivate maize instead of paddy. Similarly, the Government has also introduced a unique Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojna to provide remunerative prices to horticulture farmers. We have recently increased the number of crops brought under this program, he added.

The Chief Minister said that in Haryana, we through the government procurement agencies of the state have expedited efforts to procure crops like mustard, millet and moong. He said that the Central Government has been requested to increase procurement from Haryana by Nafed under the support price scheme management.

In the meeting, the Chief Minister has apprised that Haryana has also proposed to set up an International Fruit and Vegetable Market at Gannaur, Sonepat near Delhi. About 500 acres of land has already been acquired for this purpose and a 'Special Purpose Vehicle' has been set up at an estimated cost of Rs 3000 crore to complete the project. He also requested to provide appropriate financial and technical support to these efforts of Haryana.

He said that the State Government has taken several steps to protect the environment and to support the farmers. Several initiatives have been taken to prevent burning of crop residues by providing necessary equipment through custom hiring center. For this, an arrangement has been made to provide subsidy of Rs 100 per quintal on paddy. Apart from this, the state government is also making efforts to encourage industries to use crop residues so that farmers could earn extra income and adopt environment friendly practices.