The requirement to provide benefits to the hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has been highlighted by the Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma on Friday. He said that benefits to these areas will make it convenient for these hill states to develop easily. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has been recently accused of making Punjab a highly taxed region, whereas the hill areas surrounding Punjab do not have to worry about taxes. Putting across Deputy Chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s opinion, the UPA has encouraged the destruction of the industrial base in the state. Sharma who took part in an interactive session with the industrialists of the region, vehemently refuted the allegations saying that the issue has been exaggerated and that they do not encourage particular states getting benefits. They are eager to have an overall growth of all the states. He says that the special category hill states that lack in infrastructure, poor connectivity and less scope of development are the states that he is interested in and eager to improve.