Creation of land bank to boost industrial investment will be one of the major issues of deliberations of a high-powered Committee set up by the Centre to recommend state-specific investment promotion strategy, Maharashtra industries minister Rajendra Darda has said.

"The meeting will take place in Mumbai on August 27 to deliberate on preparations of guidelines for creation of an industrial land bank consisting of available waste and fallow land (land locked in industrial units/areas that are sick/defunct and lying unutilised). Productive agriculture and fertile land will be left out," Darda, who is the convenor of the seven-member committee told PTI here.

He said the first meeting of the Committee took place in June this year in Delhi. Apart from Darda, the Committee comprises industry ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Darda said after recession, investors throughout the world are looking for investing their funds in safer places and they find India and China as safe bets.

"The Centre feels that there should be state-specific investment promotion strategy," Darda said.

The minister said the committee was set up to make recommendations for state specific investment promotions to bring in more industries and investment in the country.

"We plan to submit our report in this connection in about four months," he added.

The minister said the Committee will also plan the design of a single window mechanism to simplify and rationalise the licensing and clearance procedures required to start and run a business.

It is also in the process of drawing up an outline for preparation of state level skill development plan based on skill mapping exercise in terms of demand and supply of skill sets within a state to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of state specific industrial strategy, he said.

"There are 28 lakh unemployed persons in Maharashtra. But the industrial houses say they can't find the right people for the jobs available with them. There is a demographic mismatch and the reason for this is that the educated candidates have not developed vocational training. Prime Minister's Task Force is insisting that every state has skill development programmes," Darda informed.

Hence, the idea for formulation of a framework for preparation of state specific investment promotion strategies based on each state's natural endowments and potential, came up, he said.