Chandigarh: Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has claimed that industries are steadily migrating from Haryana due to the BJP government’s “anti-industry and anti-farmer” policies.
Citing reports, Hooda claimed more than 100 rice mills from Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kaithal, Ambala, Fatehabad, Sirsa and other districts have shifted to Madhya Pradesh in the past three years, causing an annual revenue loss of Rs 100 crore and impacting 20,000–25,000 jobs.
According to Hooda, rice farmers, once assured the highest rates under Congress, are now seeing Haryana’s share in national rice exports fall from 60 per cent to barely 40 per cent. Hooda blamed “high market fees — 4% in Haryana compared to 1.2% in Madhya Pradesh — along with steep electricity tariffs, rising crime, extortion, and lack of government incentives for this exodus”. “Thirty to forty businessmen have also bought land in Madhya Pradesh for new rice mills and warehouses,” he said.
He added that small and medium industries, weakened by demonetisation and COVID-19, remain neglected. Yamunanagar’s plywood sector has halved from 380 units in 2017 to 160, with many shifting to UP where clusters and incentives are offered. Units in Panchkula, Gurugram, and Faridabad are migrating to Baddi, Noida, and Ghaziabad, he claimed. Hooda contrasted this with the Congress era, when six IMTs were set up and major investments—including Maruti, Honda, IOC, and Reliance—were secured.