GUWAHATI, July 27 - The State Government is committed to reviving the Jagiroad and Panchgram (Cachar) paper mills under the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) that are staring at a bleak future for want of bamboo raw materials.
The State Government has also taken up the matter with the Union Heavy Industries Ministry besides questioning the rationale of having the HPC�s headquarters in West Bengal when the corporation did not have any presence in that State.
Replying to a call attention by AGP legislator Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and BJP legislator Pijush Hazarika in the Assembly on Monday, Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that troubles started for the two mills after Mizoram and Tripura stopped supplying bamboo to them.
Patowary said that matters worsened with the State Government handing over an entire hill with bamboo plantation to one RS Gandhi � apparently a blue-eyed boy of the Government � who monopolised and manipulated the supply of bamboo and sold a substantial part of the bamboo stocks meant for the HPC mills to ITC mills outside the State.
�But we will take stern action to stop all such malpractices and ensure the two mills� revival. The mills provide direct and indirect employment to two lakh people and their closure will have a serious impact on the State�s economy,� he said.
Later, during the presentation of the Budget, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the HPC would get a three-year benefit of input tax credit on purchase of bamboo.
