The Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) of Kanpur have placed a demand for setting up of Private Public Partnership (PPP)-based power plants in the region to solve the acute power crisis. The manufacturers have asked for providing some subsidy for setting up these plants from the government.
The apex body of SMEs, Indian Industries Association (IIA) has sent these suggestions, along with other prominent demands to the SME task force headed by the PM in New Delhi. The Kanpur chapter IIA president, Sunil Vaishya said the SMEs were already facing immense competition from the larger corporates in his era of globalisation but still had been able to retain their market popularity. “To emerge stronger in this era of globalisation and realise the immense potential of these smaller enterprises, there is an urgent need for up grading the existing infrastructure like transport and power,” he added.
The association has proposed to build power plants in the region on a sharing basis whence the industrialists propose to generate power for use in adjoining industrial areas to provide round-the -clock power. The body has also asked for reserving 45 per cent land for SMEs in the upcoming industrial areas being developed by the government.
The region has over 5,000 SMEs which have been facing acute power shortage for past one decade, due to which the production has suffered severely and led to migration of some to adjoining states. “We have told the government not to locate the new industrial areas in smaller towns as the infrastructure is lacking there and such proposals are much prone to failure. Even if we are ale to provide adequate facilities to the existing enterprises and realise their full potential, our present exports share pegged at 40 percent is certain to rise,” told Vaishya.
