From industrial land allotment to financial assistance schemes, RIICO has been the catalyst for Rajasthan’s industrial growth, writes Elets News Network (ENN).
Managing Director Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation Limited
Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation Limited (RIICO), incorporated in 1969, is the apex agency of the State of Rajasthan for industrial development. RIICO provides industrial infrastructure as well as term loan to projects.
RIICO has so far established 347 Industrial Areas across Rajasthan, where 3500 acres land is available for allotment and 3200 acres of land will be shortly available for allotment. Besides, RIICO has a Land Bank of 12300 acres land for development of industrial areas in future. More than 39600 units are in production in RIICO industrial Areas.
Eligibility Criteria for RIICO
The Fair Practice Code as part of the State Government policy sets out the minimum standards, for investment activity pursued by RIICO, to be followed while dealing with entrepreneurs seeking financial assistance. The Code explains how RIICO is expected to deal with the entrepreneurs who are availing its financial assistance as well as that from the Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation.
Plots are allotted by RIICO both on the first come, first serve basis as well as per preferential allotment route. Though the applicants have to conform to a host of evaluation criteria and check lists to bag the plots, for those on first come, first serve basis, as an indicative criteria around 1/3rd of the plot area will be part of setbacks, about 1/3rd area can be kept for future expansion and rest 1/3rd can be presumed to cater to present requirements. Thus, if any applicant has mentioned “X” square meter as proposed built up area and the same is found to be reasonable, he may be provided plot in the band approximately 3 – 3.5 “X”.
Certain categories of industries though are dealt in a more liberalised way wherein built up area is a smaller percentage of the total plot area. Such industries for example marble gang-saw, steel rolling/fabrication, handicraft, cement products (Hume pipes, PCC poles, tiles etc) mineral grinding etc may be allowed approximately 5”X” land if brief project profiles spells out “X” square meter built up area.
Eligibility criteria for projects getting preferential allotment include industrial projects envisaging minimum fixed capital investment of Rs 50 crores and providing direct employment to minimum 200 persons. Projects being set up by NRIs/ PIOs, Other Corporate Body (OCB) and also for setting up of IT Industry ( Manufacturing & Software Development) with a minimum fixed capital investment and direct employment or those with 33% or more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in total investment are also given preferential allotment.
Focus Areas of RIICO
RIICO has also been focusing on development of sector specific industrial areas / zones as one of the strategies to achieve synergetic industrial development. RIICO, by virtue of carrying out dual functions viz. industrial area development and term lending, has been able to implement this concept better.
Plots are allotted by RIICO both on the first come, first serve basis as well as per preferential allotment route
Sector specific industrial areas / zones have helped in creating an eco-system for a particular sector, generating synergy for attracting new investments within and surrounding these zones. Few sector specific industrial areas / zones developed by RIICO include Agro Food Parks at Ranpur (Kota), Boranada (Jodhpur), Sriganganagar and Alwar; IT Parks at Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur; Leather Complex at Manpur Macheri (Jaipur); Ceramic Zone at Ghiloth; Auto & Engg. Zone, Electrical Cable Zone and Garment Zone at Pathredi (Bhiwadi); Electronic Manufacturing Cluster at Karoli (Bhiwadi); Apparel Park at Mahal (Jaipur), etc. The latest addition is the Stone Park at Masalpur (Karauli), coming up on 114 hectare land, where 355 plots have been planned. RIICO will soon start allotment of plots here.
RIICO has also laid emphasis on creating industrial infrastructure for Export Oriented Units (EOUs). Gem & Jewellery SEZ at Sitapura by RIICO and Mahindra World City, a Multi Product SEZ at Jaipur, a Joint Sector project of RIICO with Mahindra Group are functional. Exports from these SEZs are more than Rs. 2500 Crores per annum. Besides, RIICO also developed 3 Export Promotion Industrial Parks, cumulatively over 778 acres land, at Sitapura (Jaipur), Neemrana and Boranada (Jodhpur).
Not only sector specific industrial areas / zones and SEZs, RIICO has developed country-specific zones also. Japanese Zone developed at Neemrana on 1167 acres land was the first ever country-specific zone in India. Land has been allotted to 54 companies in the Japanese Zone, Neemrana, of which 45 have come into production. Another Japanese Zone in approx. 533 acres land has been created at Ghiloth (near Neemrana).
Initiatives by RIICO under Business Reforms Action Plan 2017 include – publishing of data of all land banks of RIICO on RIICO website through GIS, publishing of all layout plans of RIICO industrial areas with infrastructure details on RIICO website, implementing of online application systems for allotment of plots, and water connection. RIICO will also be adopting online building plan approval system being developed by the UDH Dept., Rajasthan through DOIT.
Recently, RIICO teams visited various states to study their policies and practices relating land acquisition, industrial area development and allotment of plots. The endeavour of RIICO would be to adopt their best practises and further improve upon RIICO’s practices and procedures to the benefit of entrepreneurs. Also, recently RIICO, in collaboration with industry and industrial area associations, has undertaken a major drive for cleaning of all industrial areas. The results and the participation have been encouraging.
Also Read: Rajasthan Govt Making Small Enterprises Yield Bigger Results
RIICO is also providing term loan to industrial as well as commercial and infrastructure projects in the State. Over 1000 projects have been sanctioned term loan assistance so far, and the investment of Rs. 9400 Crores has been catalyzed through term lending. As on 31.03.2018, RIICO had an outstanding term loan of Rs. 614 Crores, with Textiles and Auto/Engineering sectors being the prominent among manufacturing sectors.
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