HP Central industrial aid won’t be restored: Pranab

He said there were also complaints from neighbouring states that industries from their states were shifting to areas where the package was available. “It was creating regional imbalance,” he added.

To a question,Mukherjee,however,made it clear that those industries that started their production within the stipulated time frame would continue to avail various incentives for 10 years from the start of production.

The Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA government had approved the CIP for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in 2003 for 10 years,which led to an industrial boom in the hill states.

However,the UPA government later curtailed it by three years,and it ended on March 31,2010.

The BJP has attacked the Congress for withdrawing the package,which it says has affected industrial development of the states. The issue is one of the major poll planks of the saffron party for the Assembly polls.

During a press conference here on Tuesday,BJP president Nitin Gadkari asked the people of Uttarakhand to get an assurance from the Congress for restoration of the package before voting for them.

“We want to appeal to the people of Uttarakhand to take an assurance from Congress that it will restore the industrial package. Otherwise,the Congress must be rejected,” he said.

Gadkari said the party would continue to fight for the purpose.