Entitlement to Industrial Development Scheme incentives depends on Empowered Committee evaluation, not pre-registration status.

The petitioner, a solar power company, established a plant in District Pauri Garhwal to avail benefits under the "Industrial Development Scheme, 2017".

Despite investing significant capital and initiating correspondence for registration, the Union of India (Respondents 1 and 2) issued communications dated 30.07.2024 and 09.11.2023, stipulating that scheme benefits would only be extended to units already registered, excluding unregistered units.

The petitioner challenged these communications, asserting that their case was identical to litigation resolved by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, which had already attained finality.

1. Whether the restrictive communications dated 30.07.2024 and 09.11.2023, denying benefits to unregistered units under the Industrial Development Scheme 2017, are sustainable in law.

2. Whether the petitioner is entitled to have its case for registration and incentives considered by the Empowered Committee in light of judicial precedents from the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The court applied the framework established under Clause 6.1 of the policy of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (D.I.P.P.), which mandates that the registration of units be considered by an Empowered Committee chaired by the Secretary of the D.I.P.P.

It further relied on the judicial precedent set in *LPA No. 169 of 2025, Union of India and another v. Atul Sharma and others*, where the High Court of Himachal Pradesh held that each case must be examined individually by the Empowered Committee for grant of incentives rather than being dismissed via blanket communications.

The court noted that the impugned communications were the exact subject matter of prior litigation in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, which was decided in favor of the industrial units and upheld by the Supreme Court.

During the proceedings, the Central Government Standing Counsel (C.G.S.C.) conceded that the current batch of writ petitions was "squarely covered" by the Himachal Pradesh High Court's judgment in the *Atul Sharma* case.

Consequently, the court found no reason to deviate from the established judicial position that the Empowered Committee must evaluate the eligibility of each unit on its individual merits as per the 2017 Scheme's requirements, rather than applying a summary exclusion based on the date of registration.

It directed the Empowered Committee, chaired by the Secretary of D.I.P.P., to separately consider each petitioner's case for the grant of incentives under the Industrial Development Scheme, 2017, within a period of four months from the date of production of the certified order.