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1. Horticulture: To
allow horticulture to realize its full potential in terms of employment and
income generating opportunities requires strengthening of all three stages
between the producer and the consumer, namely, production,
procurement/transportation, marketing/ distribution. Horticulture, like many of
the other sectors in the economy, has stagnated without the application of
modern science and technology in farming methods, inputs and the other stages in
the value chain.
2. Animal Husbandry:
As in horticulture, the sector offers great potential
benefits from the application of modern technology to the different stages:
modern farm techniques, better breeding and animal health services, improved
inputs, and access to marketing information through better communication
facilities.
3. Industry: Industrial strategy has to be based on encouraging private investment not
through tax benefits but by improvements in infrastructural facilities, easing
the process of land leasibility and applying for approvals. The gradual
withdrawal of the state as a large-scale employer coupled with encouragement of
private investment in industry through basic inputs and infrastructural
facilities would be an important starting point.
4. Tourism: Tourism development should be sustainable and undertaken with an environment
impact analysis at every stage. Otherwise, expanding the industry could prove
counterproductive: the wrong type of development, such as over-construction for
example, could create landslides and deprive the region of its rich flora and
fauna. The next phase of tourism development has to be based on a new
administrative culture, which is more responsive to environmental needs.
5. Power: Apart
from being essential for growth, development of the hydro-electrical potential
can be an important source of revenue. The proposed five-stage power projects on
the River Teesta have been estimated by the Central Electricity Authority to
have a potential of 3,635 MW. The export of surplus power to power deficient
areas, once the transmission link with the Eastern grid has been strengthened,
will be a major source of revenue for the state government.
6. Roads:
Increased demand for road
transport services have made it imperative that the major connecting links are
widened, the steep gradients and curves smoothened and bridges strengthened and
widened to handle heavier loads.
7. Urban Development:
The scarcity of usable land in Sikkim makes it imperative that there are
well-formulated laws to govern its use. A key task for the government is to
formulate a land-use plan for the next 50 years.
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