DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The Punjab cabinet on Friday approved an amendment in the 2017 industrial policy to enable investors to avail GST incentives till October 2022. The move was aimed at promoting post-Covid industrial revival and attracting greater investment. The cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh gave approval to amend the Industrial and Business Development Policy, 2017, for extension of GST formula for availing incentives under the said policy till October 17, 2022, according to a government statement. The move is also prompted by feedback or suggestions from certain industry associations for extending the last date of claiming the Goods and Service Tax incentive and make this last date as coterminous till the expiry of the Industrial Policy of the state, it said. The fiscal incentive under the present policy was only applicable for investment proposals received by March 31, 2020. With the cabinet decision, the GST formula shall be extended for availing incentive under industrial policy till October 17, 2022 (till the applicability of policy). Notably, the Industrial and Business Development Policy-2017 was formulated and notified on October 17, 2017 to provide the incentive of investment subsidy by way of reimbursement of net SGST. To avail the benefit of additional borrowing of 2 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2020-21, the cabinet also gave approval to amend provision of the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003. Notably, the government of India has allowed 2 per cent of GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product), of which 1 per cent shall be unconditional and remaining 1 per cent shall be conditional to specific reforms. The state cabinet in another decision gave the nod to amend the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion Act, 2016 for incorporating provisions for automated deemed approval of various regulatory clearances. This enabling provision would not only expedite speedy approval/clearances but also assure industrial units of a time-frame within which clearances would be granted, according to a government statement. The Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion Amendment Bill, 2021, enabling the incorporation of the new provisions will be tabled in the upcoming session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha for enactment. The investor friendly initiative would be to further enhance ease of doing business and instil greater confidence amongst entrepreneurs and industrialists in the state, by providing system generated deemed approvals and auto renewals based on self-certification, it said. The cabinet also decided to revise the nearly 90-year-old fee structure under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, to bring the same on par with other states. The cabinet approved 'The Indian Partnership (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2021' for the revision of fee for various services as contained in Schedule-1 under Section 71 of the Act, such as registration of firms, updation of records, inspection and copying. The prescribed fee structure for various services as currently contained in Schedule-1 of the act is too meagre and has become irrelevant with the passage of time, as the existing fee structure has not been revised since the Act came into force in 1932. Under the revised structure, Rs 5,000 would now be charged for making a statement under section 58 for application registration as against Rs 3 charged earlier, as per government statement. Instead of the existing Re 1, the revised structure provides for charging Rs 500 each for making a statement under section 60 for recording of alternations in firm name and principal place of business, among other changes. Further, Rs 100 each in place of earlier fee of fifty paisa would be now charged for inspection of one volume of the register of firms, for inspection of all documents related to one firm. (editor@dailyworld.in)