 "Nothing for small entrepreneurs in investment summit")
The presence of the big guns of India Inc at the 'Progressive Punjab Summit' on December 9-10 at Mohali near Chandigarh may have been considered a milestone by the state government, but it did not offer much to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
MoUs worth Rs 65,000 crore were signed between the Punjab government and corporate houses during the summit in such sectors as real estate, telecom, information technology, food processing, real estate and education, among others, but existing clusters of SMEs found nothing to cheer about in the proposed investments.
The feeling in the steel cluster of Punjab at Mandi Gobindgarh, which has been languishing due to the high cost of power, labour scarcity and lack of technology upgrades, is that such events will do nothing to ease bottlenecks in the state's manufacturing sector.
Anurag Aggarwal, director of P K Industries and immediate past president of the Mohali Industries Association, said that the last big project to come up in the automotive segment in Punjab was the Rail Coach factory Kapurthala (in 1988-89). After it, there has been no greenfield project in the automotive segment in the state which might have provided SMEs with growth opportunities. No such project was proposed during the recent summit in Mohali.
SMEs, according to Aggarwal, need a speedy redressal system and simplification of processes. Punjab's SMEs need to learn how to deal with government departments and need hand-holding on this front.
Punjab has more than two lakh SMEs, each with its own problems, as successive governments in the state have failed to provide an environment conducive to the growth of industry. Tax concessions in the hill states and investor-friendly policies in progressive states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh finally led many existing units to relocate.
Tarsem Saini, president of the Rice Millers' Association in Punjab, said that the proposed investments in rice processing by a few big companies would not help small players. The big players plan to enter basmati processing, while the small rice mills process non-basmati rice meant for the public distribution system. "The investments will not drive demand for our sector," he added.
Mohinder Gupta, president of the Mandi Gobindgarh Steel Mills Association, said that the plight of existing industry in Punjab is such that it will fail to drive fresh investments in the state; the state government should have strengthened existing industries before planning for new ones.
"The co-existence of big and small outfits is imperative for the sustainable development of an economy. While huge incentives are doled out to big players despite their easy access to debt and equity, small industries are left to fend for themselves," he added.
MoUs worth Rs 65,000 crore were signed between the Punjab government and corporate houses during the summit in such sectors as real estate, telecom, information technology, food processing, real estate and education, among others, but existing clusters of SMEs found nothing to cheer about in the proposed investments.
The feeling in the steel cluster of Punjab at Mandi Gobindgarh, which has been languishing due to the high cost of power, labour scarcity and lack of technology upgrades, is that such events will do nothing to ease bottlenecks in the state's manufacturing sector.
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Other clusters like Jalandhar's sports goods cluster, Ludhiana's hosiery cluster and cycle parts cluster, Patiala's rice processors' cluster and Mohali's engineering goods cluster, want the state government to address issues affecting existing industries.
Anurag Aggarwal, director of P K Industries and immediate past president of the Mohali Industries Association, said that the last big project to come up in the automotive segment in Punjab was the Rail Coach factory Kapurthala (in 1988-89). After it, there has been no greenfield project in the automotive segment in the state which might have provided SMEs with growth opportunities. No such project was proposed during the recent summit in Mohali.
SMEs, according to Aggarwal, need a speedy redressal system and simplification of processes. Punjab's SMEs need to learn how to deal with government departments and need hand-holding on this front.
Punjab has more than two lakh SMEs, each with its own problems, as successive governments in the state have failed to provide an environment conducive to the growth of industry. Tax concessions in the hill states and investor-friendly policies in progressive states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh finally led many existing units to relocate.
Tarsem Saini, president of the Rice Millers' Association in Punjab, said that the proposed investments in rice processing by a few big companies would not help small players. The big players plan to enter basmati processing, while the small rice mills process non-basmati rice meant for the public distribution system. "The investments will not drive demand for our sector," he added.
Mohinder Gupta, president of the Mandi Gobindgarh Steel Mills Association, said that the plight of existing industry in Punjab is such that it will fail to drive fresh investments in the state; the state government should have strengthened existing industries before planning for new ones.
"The co-existence of big and small outfits is imperative for the sustainable development of an economy. While huge incentives are doled out to big players despite their easy access to debt and equity, small industries are left to fend for themselves," he added.