Industries told to link up to develop regions

Trade and industry across the country will have to forge new alliances and set up their own corpuses for infrastructure development of their regions as the days of dependence on the government for development are over, Dinesh Parekh, chairman of the New Mumbai chapter of the Indian Merchants Chamber, said.

He was speaking at the 'All Chambers Meet' hosted by the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) at the 'Udhyog 2004' trade fair in Surat.

Parekh listed out a number of steps taken by the IMC New Mumbai chapter to spruce up the infrastructure in the region.

"We have to have a corpus for development of our respective regions," he said.

Stating that in the coming days the industry will have to focus on quality and slash the production cost, Parekh said a plethora of taxes at different levels were also adding up to the overall cost of production.

Parekh underlined the need for a uniform taxation structure in the entire country.

Citing the examples of the states which were collecting octroi, and those which had scrapped this system, Parekh said the different structures and slabs of taxation in octroi, sales tax, excise and income tax should be uniform.

"We will be able to survive in the world market only through reducing cost and improving the quality of our products," he said.

"Maximum output with minimum input should be our motto."

Referring to the long awaited airport at Surat, Parekh said the SGCCI should make an effective representation and lobby hard with the authorities.

"Just like the airport, a similar approach should be adopted for other major infrastructural requirements," he said

Earlier, the SGCCI president Ashok Shah welcomed the representatives of different chambers of commerce of Gujarat and Maharashtra and presented the quarterly annual general report of the SGCCI.

He called upon these representatives to play a proactive role in bringing about solutions for the problems faced by their respective cities.

"The aim behind organising the meet was to discuss the issues and problems that affect the industry at large and to contemplate on the possible solutions," Shah said.

SGCCI seminar committee chairman Rupin Patchigar also spoke.