Union Minister of State for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma visited Industrial Growth Centre at Lassipora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district yesterday to review the Industrial scenario there.<br />''<br />''The Minister visited some new industrial units functioning in the estate and had an extensive round of infrastructure of manufacturing units.<br />''<br />''While addressing the occasion, the Union Minister said Govt of India is committed to providing a congenial atmosphere for entrepreneurship and added that the ease of doing business policy of Govt has led to the flourishing of Industry and Entrepreneurship. <br />''<br />''He said that IGC Lassipora is the growth engine of industry and is a developmental model for the rest of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He appreciated their business model and the state of the art technology engaged to add value to the local produce. He recognised and lauded their contribution toward self-reliance and employment generation.<br />''<br />''The Minister also visited CA stores, Pencil slate manufacturing unit, Horticulture driven units like apple juice manufacturing plants etc. located in the estate.<br />''<br />''During his visit to the pencil slate manufacturing unit, the MoS was appraised by the authorities regarding the speciality of Pulwama in Pencil Slate manufacturing. He was informed that the district is the highest exporter of Pencil slates catering to almost 80 per cent of the demand of the pencil manufacturing units in the country giving it the name Pencil District.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">During the interaction with Industrialists at IGC, several demands were raised including the upgradation of Infrastructure, the establishment of SIDBI office, the revival of sick units, amnesty for power tariffs, and connectivity of road from IGC Lassipora to Sangam connecting IGC with National Highway 44.</span><br />