Ahead of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday launched the 'Aatmanirbhar Gujarat' scheme to provide assistance and various incentives to industries, and to boost the manufacturing sector in the state.

Elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state are slated to be held by the end of this year.

''Gujarat is a land of entrepreneurs. The state is India's manufacturing hub. It is prepared to lead India in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,'' the chief minister said.

He said the scheme will be instrumental in providing special assistance needed by industries to enable them to become part of the global supply chains.

The 'Aatmanirbhar Gujarat' scheme for incentives to industries shall encourage budding entrepreneurs to fulfil their entrepreneurial ambitions, Patel added.

The scheme gives different types of incentives to mega, heavy and micro industries as well as MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), he said.

The incentives include interest subsidy of up to 12 per cent on Fixed Capital Investment to large enterprises, EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) reimbursement for 10 years, net State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) reimbursement to large industries of up to 75 per cent of Fixed Capital Investment over 10 years and electricity duty exemption for five years.

For MSMEs, the incentives include capital subsidy up to Rs 35 lakh for micro Industries, interest subsidy of upto Rs 35 lakh per annum for up to 7 years, EPF reimbursement for 10 years and incremental incentives to women entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs, startups and differently-abled entrepreneurs.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without any modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)