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| 'Government needs to set realistic revenue targets' | | Q&A: Balram Narula, Jet Eco CMD |
| Vishnu Pandey / Kanpur Oct 14, 2009, 00:24 IST |
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 While large companies have only now started to come out of the slowdown, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been hit the least. Hosiery is one of the sectors where SMEs still rule the roost. Vishnu Pandey talks with leading hosiery player Jet Eco’s chairman and managing director, Balram Narula. Excerpts:
The erstwhile 'Manchaster of the East' has now become comparatively marginalised in the textile sector. Even hosiery clusters are lagging behind Tirupur, which was once little known for the enterprise.
The government needs to understand that there is a distinction between enterprise and trade. So, policies for dealing with these two need to be framed accordingly. For instance, the Uttar Pradesh government has set a revenue target of 92 per cent for hosiery trade and manufacturers, without understanding the nitty-gritty of the variations in trading and manufacturing. Manufacturers need better infrastructure such as constant power supply and skilled manpower in large quantities as compared to traders. No retailer and distributor business has been known to shut down owing to poor power situation while manufacturers can't work even for a second without power. We must understand that manufacturing forms the base on which trade and commerce flourish.
So, what can be the possible remedy?
The government must set realistic and differential revenue targets not only for sectors, as it is doing presently, but also for sub-sectors within each sector to do justice to each industry player, whether it's manufacturers or traders. Otherwise, the pressurised bureaucrats in turn exploit industrialists to shell out more with no accountability in return, leading to migration and marginalisation of industry.
Does this mean that an erroneous tax structure is responsible for the poor state of industry in the state?
It is just one of the prime reasons, while lack of accountability from the administration is a larger question. Even when we pay such high revenues, the power supply is getting worse day by day and other infrastructure, such as roads, is in disgraceful shape. It seems the state government has accepted its status as a consumer state. Nothing else explains its coldness towards industrial development.
The central government had offered to build a textile park in Ruma near Kanpur way back in 2003, but the project has failed to take off. Government officials blame manufacturers for not showing interest in the project.
On paper, the project was a fabulous one. It envisaged a complete training and production mall with regular power supply and proper marketing channels but the land was allotted to people who were in no way associated with the textile or hosiery industry. The land mafia was able to get large tracts of land in the park meant for industrial purposes. So, it’s evident who is to blame.
Finally, what is the scenario in the hosiery industry? How do you see its future?
The hosiery market was never in a downturn. We have always been flooded with orders, but lack of infrastructure has been a major hiccup. The hosiery products have become popular for fashion apparels, thereby boosting demand. The jeans and t-shirts we see across shopping malls are mostly hosiery goods. We have not even been able to fulfil the domestic demand and the industry is in need of thousands of trained professionals to expand in the impending boom.
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