Goyal encourages setting up of businesses in state

Stressing the need of development of the states in the eastern part for an overall growth of the country, Piyush Goyal, the minister of state (independent charge) of Power Mines, Coal and Renewable Energy, said: “I am glad knowing that efforts are being made to bring industries back to West Bengal which had moved to other states earlier”.

He said this while addressing the 115th Annual Session of the MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the city on Sunday.

Goyal said: “I would like to encourage setting up of business in West Bengal as Eastern India has to develop. West Bengal is a part of Eastern India like Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Sikkim and the seven sister states. But this whole region unfortunately had remained backward over the years.

“It has not developed in the same pace like southern and western part of the country. This had been a matter of angst for the Prime Minister and his government. Every step needed have 

been taken to ensure the development of the region in a much vaster way.”

He said that the states in the region are not governed by BJP governments. Recently BJP formed government in Assam. Despite that the Centre had never discriminated based on the political scenario in any state.

While speaking about the benefits of GST he said that whole idea of GST is to bring down effective tax rates and it would be really successful if everyone participates in it honestly.

Goyal said that already 16.7 crore bulbs have been replaced by LEDs and the target is to replace 77 crores bulbs by 2019.

It saves Rs 8000 cores every year and it stands around Rs 23.7 crore in a day.

He urged the state government also to be a part of the Ujala lighting scheme of the Centre under which normal bulbs are replaced by LEDs for less power consumption and lesser electricity bills for consumers.   

Goyal also held the erstwhile Planning Commission responsible for irrational investment by companies due to its inaccuracy in setting targets of power generation. As a result the public and the private sector invested in adding generation capacity.

Taking a dig at the Planning Commission that has been replaced with Niti Ayog, he said that the Planning Commission had emphasized on import of coal stating shortfall in domestic generation. “At present we are focusing to increase domestic production of coal instead of importing,” he said adding that instead of the Centre the states would be allowed to set their own targets of production.

He further said that renewable energy in long term it will be the cheapest form of energy as it has no operating cost.