Does the Govindpura industrial area alone represent the face of Madhya Pradesh industries abroad? Probably yes, if one goes by the delegation of entrepreneurs that accompanied Commerce & Industry minister Babulal Gaur to Beijing to participate in the CII’s ‘Made In India Show’.
The six entrepreneurs who joined the Babulal’s industry bandwagon all ‘coincidentally’ belong to the Govindpura industrial area. They are Dr RS Goswami (Hind Pharma), Subhash Vitthaldas (Permalli Wallace), DK Kohli (DK Insulators), Sanjay & Pankaj Shrivastava (Surendra Composite), SN Sharma (Daulatram Industries) and Uttam Ganguli (Bend Joints).
Without mincing words, many entrepreneurs have said that the selection of the delegation was ‘biased and based on personal equations’. However, CII-MP has reasons to counter it. “Along with LUN (Laghu Udyog Nigam), we sent invitations not only to our members but also to other entrepreneurs and associations. We got several responses.
However, six turned out to be positive, and one each from Ratlam and Dewas withdrew at the last moment,” CII’s state chairman Sunil Chordia told Hindustan Times.
But many contest the claims of CII and LUN. “We’ve not received any invitation or circular either from CII or Laghu Udyog Nigam,” said Gautam Kothari, president of the Pithampur Audhogik Sanghathan. Such selections are usually biased and favour the vested interests, he said. Same is reaction of Dr Darshan Kataria, owner of a chemical industry at Pithampur, MP’s largest growth centre.
{{/usCountry}}But many contest the claims of CII and LUN. “We’ve not received any invitation or circular either from CII or Laghu Udyog Nigam,” said Gautam Kothari, president of the Pithampur Audhogik Sanghathan. Such selections are usually biased and favour the vested interests, he said. Same is reaction of Dr Darshan Kataria, owner of a chemical industry at Pithampur, MP’s largest growth centre.
{{/usCountry}}Mandideep, another industrial growth centre with Rs 1500 crore export turnover, was also in the dark about invitations to China. “As a general secretary of the association (of Mandideep), I can say that no invitation was received by us,” says Sanjay Khandelwal. Former CII vice-president and Nahar Spinning Mills executive director Mahendra Tyagi said he had no idea about the trip.
A CII official said LUN had been the major partner in the trip and it invited associations and entrepreneurs. Though all the six members are from Govindpura, the LUN missed the Govindpura Industries Association.
“I’m not aware of any such programme as I have not received any circular,” said its general secretary Mukesh Sachdeva. Another entrepreneur and former CII member from Indore said on anonymity that barring Daulatram or Permalli Wallace, the rest belong to the SSI sector.
Though Indore has a big turnover and it is still left out, he said. No LUN senior officials were available for comment. Industry sources alleged that the LUN followed a ‘politically correct’ approach by focusing on those who are its ‘trusted vendors’.
Dr Goswami is also the president of the BJP’s Industry Cell, DK Kohli belongs to a family with BJP ties. “Daulatram Industries is quite close to the industry minister,” a BJP insider said, requesting anonymity.
“Another reason for selecting the six for China could be that they found their products appropriate for displaying at the show,” adds Chordia. However, CII sent a long list of products that could be showcased in Beijing. It’s a multi-product show. Both entrepreneurs and association members opined several entrepreneurs fitted the bill. They could have made it to Beijing had the selectors not been ‘partial’ to Govindpura, the Industry Minister’s constituency.