Coronavirus: Punjab Cabinet approves thrust sector status for Oxygen production units
Amid the Oxygen crisis triggered by the coronavirus cases in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh led the Punjab government on Wednesday announced thrust sector status for all Oxygen product units, while appointing a nodal officer to coordinate with Customs Department for quick clearance of foreign aid.
Captain Amarinder Singh said with the way things were going currently, the coronavirus situation in Punjab was likely to worsen in the coming days, with nobody knowing how many more waves of Covid would hit the country and the state.
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The thrust sector status, approved at a virtual cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, will apply to oxygen production units with a minimum capacity of 700 cylinders per day equivalent to 5 MT, Oxygen cylinder manufacturers/fabricators, Oxygen concentrators manufacturing units. Oxygen refilling units will not be covered by the special status.
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With this decision, the units (both old and new) will become eligible for 100 percent exemption from Change of Land Use (CLU)/External Development Charges (EDC), Property Tax, Electricity Duty, Stamp Duty, and Investment Subsidy, by way of reimbursement of GST up to 125 percent of Fixed Capital Investment made in the land and machinery.
Notably, the status of thrust sector to oxygen production units has been conferred under clause 10.6 of Chapter-10 of Industrial and Business Development Policy, 2017 and subsequently as per clause 2.22 of Detailed Schemes and Operational Guidelines, 2018.
The Cabinet took the decision to help the state cope with the emergent situation arising out of acute shortage of oxygen in view of the increased caseload due to unprecedented Covid pandemic in the state.
For the week ending May 4, the state had an average positivity rate of 11.6 percent, with a CFR of 2.1%, from a sample size of 74 lakh.
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