| He also announced the creation of a special fund for reviving the state's small and medium enterprise sector. |
| Addressing the national executive council meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here yesterday, he recalled that the government had announced a special package in its food processing policy to promote the food and agro industries to create large-scale employment in the rural areas. |
| Similar policies with appropriate incentives would be announced for the thrust areas such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, hi-tech manufacturing and small-scale industries. |
| Expressing concern over a recent survey which put the industrial sickness rate in the state's SMEs at 35 per cent, he said the government would create a 'Small and Medium Enterprises Assistance and Restructuring fund' (SMEAR) for their revival. |
| The government would also announce a policy to encourage SSI clusters and facilitate linkages to enhance the technological and marketing strengths of SSIs. The government had engaged reputed research agencies to do a survey of industrial sickness in the state. The revival package would have various measures and incentives to revive the sick units in the small-scale industry, he said. |
| Seeking to allay any misunderstanding and apprehensions among the industry and the prospective investors in the state, he said the government would play a pro-active role to ensure optimum use of the state's resources and usher in a very industry-friendly environment. |
| The government would set up a committee to regularly interact with industrialists and address their concerns, he assured a large gathering of industrialists taking part in the Ficci meet. |
| He also said the government was aware of the need to build a strong infrastructure and streamline regulations and cut red tape. "A special fund "� Industrial Infrastructure Development Fund "� has been set up to make industrial infrastructure comparable to the best in the world," he said. |
| Referring to a presentation by Ficci president Y K Modi on the various measures needed to develop the industry and finances of the state, the chief minister defended free power for farmers, saying it would only need Rs 400 crore a year. |
| However, the government would commission a high voltage direct current (HVDC) system to meter every unit supplied free to the farming community. |
| Admitting that the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses were high at 34 per cent, he said the government would strive to bring them down to 16-17 per cent level. This would require an expenditure of around Rs 5,000 crore, he said. |
| In this regard, he reminded the Ficci members that during the Congress rule between 1989 and 1994, the state power utility was earning profits and later under the Telugu Desam rule it incurred huge losses, despite a steep hike in tariff. |
| Earlier, Modi stressed the need for a stable industrial policy from the state government. He asked the government to target gradual phase-out of subsidies, cut down T&D losses, introduce value-added tax (VAT) and prune revenue and fiscal deficits. |
| Lauding the government for its thrust on agriculture and agro industries, he called for the setting up of food parks, encouraging contract labour and abolishing the Agriculture Produce Marketing Act. |
| Ficci also urged the state government relax labour laws to allow contract labour in all segments. Power deficit of 18 per cent at peak levels was also a cause of major concern to the industry, he added. |
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