Ludhiana: Heads of MSME bodies write to Modi, Gadkari for aid
Moves comes day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das termed the Covid-19 pandemic the worst health and economic crisis in the last 100 years during peacetime
A day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das termed the Covid-19 pandemic the worst health and economic crisis in the last 100 years during peacetime with unprecedented negative consequences for output and jobs, heads of various industry associations in Ludhiana on Saturday demanded government support to tide over the current economic crises.
Upkar Singh Ahuja, president, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) and Ajit Lakra, head of textile division, FICO, sent open letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister of micro, small and medium enterprises, Nitin Gadkari, stating that making India ‘atma nirbhar’ is not possible unless the government supports MSMEs and manufacturing sector.
“The electricity rate of industrial units should be reduced by Rs 3per kw and liquidity should be available easily for MSMEs at low interest rate. Improvement of transport infrastructure is imperative and GST should be slashed. Besides this, export incentive like no income tax on export should be offered to encourage industrial growth,” Ahuja said.
He said the country’s MSME base is the largest in the world after China and if the government abolishes anti-dumping duties for raw material such as steel and plastic, the Indian MSME industry has the potential to touch 200% growth in three years.
“The anti- dumping duties makes raw material expensive. This in turn makes finished products costlier, which is why Chinese products are preferred over ours,” he added.
Lakra said that amid growing anti-China sentiments, India has a lucrative opportunity to become one of the most industrialised countries of the world.
“It is most important to immediately ban import of unnecessary commodities from China or any other country to promote our own industry and create more employment,” he added.
He said labour, land acquisition and tax laws must be suitably amended to make them satisfactory for foreign investors to establish their business ventures in India with ease.
