GUWAHATI, July 16 � State Commerce and Industries Minister Pradyut Bardoloi today told the Assembly that the State Government was against any subsidy for coke industries and that no new coke industrial units had come up in the State since 2006.
As of now there are 40 coke industries in the State providing employment to 2,200 people. The State Government�s stand against the industry was mainly due to its polluting nature, Bardoloi said even while revealing that the lion�s share of the transport subsidy for industries was taken by the coke industries.
Bardoloi said that he had written to the Union Industries Minister on February 11, 2010 and June 23, 2010, urging the Centre to put coke industry in the negative list for incentives.
Bardoloi further informed the House while replying to a query by MLA Mohibul Haque (Congress associate) that the State Government was keen to promote small hydro-electric projects as they had no negative downstream impact.
�We had deliberations with a visiting delegation of the American Chamber of Commerce recently and urged them to invest in several sectors such as small hydro power, coal, tourism, food processing, etc�we want to promote small hydro-electric projects as they are environment-friendly and have no negative impact downstream. We will welcome private participation in small hydel projects,� he said.
The Minister revealed that 12 micro hydro-electric power projects were under construction in different parts of the State.
