IMPHAL, Sept 22 - The growth rate of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in Manipur has doubled from 4 per cent in 2016-17 to 8 per cent in 2018-19. Similarly, the state owned tax revenue has also steeply increased from Rs 587 crore in 2016-17 to above Rs 1,000 crore in 2018-19, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, N Biren Singh said that such results show that with the advent of the present government, the State has seen economic growth. Biren said the pace of development and growth would transform Manipur into an advanced state in the near future, and the government could achieve such result with the love, support and cooperation of the people.
The Chief Minister maintained that the inflow of foreign tourists has drastically increased from 500-600 tourists per year in 2015-16 to above 1,000 tourists per month these days.
Considering the medical properties of cannabis, the Chief Minister also informed that the government was planning to legalise cannabis solely for medicinal and industrial purposes. He said three states in India � Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand � have already legalised cannabis for medicinal purposes.
He also announced that under the Start-up Manipur scheme, a new programme called �Stand-up Manipur� would be introduced to provide soft loans to entrepreneurs belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minorities of the State. For this, a Facilitation Centre will be opened to provide information and assist the entrepreneurs belonging to weaker sections for availing the facilities under various schemes of the Union government.
Lauding the steps taken by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on corporation tax rate cuts, he said that all domestic companies would now have to pay corporation tax at the rate of 22 per cent, which was earlier 30 per cent. He also said that there would be an expansion in the scope of corporate social responsibility activities in the field of education and research.
