Indian manufacturing sector is suffering sluggish growth, but states can player a greater role in boosting manufacturing by creating land banks for national investment manufacturing zones, commerce & in-d-u-stry minister Anand Sharma said.

National Industrial Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) are integrated green field industrial townships of more than 5,000 hectares with state of the art infrastructure, where at least 30 per cent of the total land area is devoted to manufacturing facilities.

Mr. Sharma said that many states have already started creating land banks for setting up manufacturing zones, and other states to follow the process.

Speaking to state chief secretaries from states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat, "Land is a major issue. But states have to play a major role. Their participation is very important in creating land banks for national investment manufacturing zones across the country."

The meeting was called to discuss possible ways to revive manufacturing activity in the country to give a boost to the economy.

Mr. Sharma assured states that required approvals and clearances would be given through single window system. He also promised that the ownership of land would not change and that only state governments would be eligible to do zoning.

Indian manufacturing sector, which accounts for three-quarters of the overall industrial output in the country, contracted 0.2 per cent in July, dragging down the growth in IIP to mere 0.1 per cent.