Hot concerns for small units: energy prices, not access to funding

It is this prime operating cost, which is choking the country's 44 million non-farm small and micro units, that hasn't found mention in any of the poll manifestos this election

What is the common concern between the glass makers of Firozabad, just next to Agra in Uttar Pradesh, and the rosogolla makers of Salipur, near Cuttack in Odisha? 

It is the price of fuel -- gas for the glass city, wood and copra for the sweet units -- which drives up their cost of production, forcing them to cut costs elsewhere. In the run-up to the general elections, all the political parties have promises galore for the micro and small-scale units. Those promises assure funds or ease of registration, but none promise to look into this prime operating cost of