Irked by the lackadaisical attitude of the Punjab government, small and medium scale industrialists in Mohali have demanded that the state government should foster the growth of clusters in the area to help industries tide over the ongoing recessionary phase.
Mohali had received an approval to set up a bath fittings cluster by the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) six months back, that is likely to benefit around 50 micro and small bath manufacturing enterprises in Mohali. This is the first cluster in Punjab that has been proposed by the state government and has been approved by the ministry of MSME, government of India.
However, the industrialists feel that the state government lacks the teeth, as no policy has been framed by the state government till date, to encourage entrepreneurs in Punjab to set up such clusters.
Talking to Business Standard, president of the Mohali Industries Association, B S Anand said, the government of India, under its scheme, Small Industry Cluster Development Programme (SICDP) had approved a bath fittings cluster for Mohali. Under this scheme, the central government would provide assistance in the form of financial support for research and development, testing equipment facilities required for the cluster.
Anand lamented, non-cooperation from the state government was acting as an impediment in execution of the cluster. He said that it seemed the state government did not encourage entrepreneurs for a cluster approach and due to lack of such a policy, cluster wok was not progressing at the desired pace.
“Our industry is basically demanding adequate space from the state government to set up a Common Facility Centre (CFC) that would have a testing facility, lab facility and design facility, but the government's attitude remains indifferent,” Anand lamented.
He said, if the state government could soon come out with a policy for entrepreneurs to help them set up the clusters , that would not only enhance competitiveness, productivity, and consistency in quality, but would also benefit the micro and small manufacturing enterprises in Mohali.
Anand maintained in this recessionary phase the future of micro and small scale units of Mohali could be secured through the cluster approach and even the MSME Development Institute had adopted the cluster development approach as a key strategy for enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the MSME sector.
He said that Mohali industries were planning to form an engineering cluster in Mohali as well, that was likely to benefit 300-odd engineering units spread across Mohali.
Anand demanded, the state government would have to play a proactive role and encourage and promote cluster development as clusters would not only be beneficial for skill development and marketing of the products, but the future of micro and small scale units of Mohali could also be secured through the approach.
