MP to get 10 industry clusters

Taking note of sluggish growth and migration from Madhya Pradesh industrial areas to Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, the MP government is planning to create industrial areas in 10 zero-industry blocks within three weeks from now.

The industry minister, Kailash Chawla, has asked his officers in the department of industries to identify locations where there are no industrial activities.

A revolving fund had been mooted for this, and priority would be given to food-processing units, a government spokesperson told Business Standard. Mandideep and Govindpura (Bhopal), Waidhan (Sidhi), Maneri (Mandla), Banmore (Gwalior) and Pithampur (Indore) are facing shortages in water, power, and infrastructure, and the associated problems of an overzealous, venal bureaucracy.

However, not all are excited. "Industrial areas will not boost activity; the revival of the existing areas by providing them better facilities could be one option for the government to revive ailing units," an industrialist in Mandideep told Business Standard, adding, "a number of units are facing litigation due to inappropriate land allotment in Mandideep made by the Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam without going into the details of land area."

A number of units have shown no interest in revival schemes of the government, including the one-time settlement. Rs 400 crore of bank loans and Rs 800 crore of capital investment have been stuck in closed and sick small-scale units, which are more than 11,000 in number.

However, the government contests the data. It says 15,873 small-scale units have been set up in 2004-05 with a capital investment of Rs 133 crore, and these have provided employment to 48,000 people.

"As many as 883 cases pertaining to problems of small-scale units have been disposed of," said a government spokesperson.

Industry sources say problems in industrial areas are not common in all places. Mandideep is facing infrastructure problems, Jabalpur suffers harassment at the hands of lower-level bureaucracy, in Banmore units are closing down in the absence of market, and Waidhan and Maneri have not been marketed by the government so far.

Gwalior has power problems and few employees; labour issues and strike problems predominate in Pithampur.