Grants of Over ₹965 Crore Approved for Minister Lakhanlal Dewangan’s Departments

Raipur, March 11

The Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly today approved grant demands of ₹965.18 crore for the financial year 2025-26 for the departments under Commerce & Industry Minister Shri Lakhanlal Dewangan. This includes ₹709.87 crore for Commerce & Industry and ₹255.31 crore for the Labour Department.

While responding to discussions on the grants, Minister Shri Dewangan stated that the Industrial Development Policy 2024-30 has been in effect since November 1, 2024, with the theme “Amrit Kaal Chhattisgarh Vision-2047”. He highlighted that for the first time, a state has linked its policy directly to development and employment generation. Special incentives have been introduced for labour-intensive industries capable of generating large-scale employment, especially for units providing jobs to over 1,000 workers. Additional grants will be approved for industries employing differently-abled persons, retired Agniveers, or former Naxalites who have surrendered.

Shri Dewangan mentioned that training incentives have been introduced to transition local workers into formal employment. Industries hiring local residents will receive ₹15,000 per person as training stipend reimbursement along with EPF expense reimbursements. To attract capital investment, the Industrial Policy 2024-30 includes multiple incentives such as interest subsidies, fixed capital investment grants, margin money grants, and quality certification grants. The policy also provides full exemption from stamp duty on land, buildings, and bank loans and waives electricity charges for 6-10 years. Additionally, industries are now allowed to submit self-declarations instead of multiple certificates, simplifying the process.

Industrial Growth and Investment in Chhattisgarh
The minister stated that 34 industrial zones/parks have been developed so far, with 4 new ones proposed. Upcoming projects include:

New Food Parks in different districts
Gems & Jewelry Park and Plastic Park in Raipur
Pharmaceutical Park in Naya Raipur
Smart Industrial Park in Janjgir-Champa
To support young entrepreneurs, the government is promoting PM Employment Generation Program, PM MUDRA Scheme, Stand-Up India, and PM Micro Food Enterprise Upgradation Scheme. The Chhattisgarh Udyam Kranti Yojana has been introduced to provide interest-free loans.

A Single Window System has been established to ensure timely approval of industrial incentives. Unlike previous governments that signed MOUs without concrete planning, the current administration is issuing “Invitations to Invest”, which act as commitment letters following detailed discussions with investors. As a result, in just 125 days of implementing the new industrial policy, Chhattisgarh has received 31 investment proposals worth over ₹1 lakh crore.

Key Investment Proposals
Polymated Electronics Ltd is investing ₹1,143 crore in Naya Raipur.
Yes Fan & Appliances and Rack Bank Data Center have selected Naya Raipur for their projects.
Abrel Green Energy has chosen Mungeli for a solar power project.
To promote tourism as an industry, the new budget includes various subsidies and incentives. Additionally, ₹5 crore has been allocated for constructing a Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce office in Naya Raipur, along with land allocation at concessional rates. This will strengthen business organizations, facilitating better industrial and trade operations.

The budget also includes ₹15.60 crore for building new District Trade & Industry Center offices in Rajnandgaon, Jagdalpur, Kondagaon, Balod, Mahasamund, and Bilaspur. These offices will improve administrative efficiency and ensure faster implementation of government policies for entrepreneurs.

Labour Welfare Initiatives
Speaking on labour welfare, Minister Shri Dewangan emphasized that the Labour Department is responsible for ensuring the economic and social security of workers and their families in both organized and unorganized sectors. The government enforces various labour laws to protect workers’ rights, improve working conditions, health, safety, and industrial harmony.

One of the key announcements was the expansion of the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Shram Ann Yojana to all districts. Under this scheme, food centers provide affordable meals to labourers. While 16 centers were launched in 6 districts last year, and 31 more were started in 13 districts this year, the scheme will now cover all districts in 2025-26.

For the upcoming financial year, a total budget of ₹255.31 crore has been allocated for the Labour Department, including:

₹29.40 crore for the Labour Commissioner’s Office
₹125.10 crore for the Chhattisgarh Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Board
₹6.24 crore for the Chhattisgarh Labour Welfare Board
₹6.24 crore for Industrial Health & Safety
₹1.51 crore for establishing an Industrial Hygiene Laboratory
₹64.18 crore for Employee State Insurance Services
₹22.85 crore for Industrial Courts
The discussion on these grant demands saw participation from MLAs including Daleshwar Sahu, Rajesh Munat, Kunwar Singh Nishad, Prabodh Minz, Sushant Shukla, Devendra Yadav, Ajay Chandrakar, Vyas Kashyap, and Raghvendra Kumar Singh.