The absence of proper planning on the part of the government of Himachal Pradesh is giving unprecedented hardships to dozens of pharmaceutical manufacturers who have moved in to the excise free zones of the state. The companies have been compelled to shell out funds for not only the capital investment, but also for developing common infrastructure like roads and power supply lines, it is learnt.

The "development fee" charged by the authorities depend upon the size of the investment to be made. Companies say that Rs 2500 to Rs 4500 per KV is charged as "security" for industrial power connection. They even point out that there are instances where such "fees" amounted to over Rs 15 crores for a single manufacturing unit.

Interestingly, this non-refundable 'infrastructure development fund' has troubled only those units that have come outside the existing industrial estates. According to Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association (HDMA), the matter has already been taken up with the authorities.

The reason for this anomaly is the absence of proper planning by the state government. While most of the state was earmarked as excise free locations, the government did nothing to foresee the influx of manufacturing units and develop them as industrial plots. Most of the areas are residential areas where there is only domestic power supply. While industrial estates like EPIP (I), EPIP (II) and units that have come up in Baddi industrial area have at least minimum facilities, no company along the 25 to 30 km stretch upto Nalagarh has industrial power supply lines.

Ideally the government should have purchased the land, developed it as industrial plots, set up common effluent treatment plants and then sold it to the entrepreneurs. This practice, commonly adopted by the state governments in the country, was found missing in Himachal, industrialists lament.

With the developed industrial belts already overbooked, the companies that are coming now will have to take the risk of developing its own infrastructure before it can think of any manufacturing activities.