The government today said it would continue to reserve items for exclusive manufacture by small scale industries. | |
| "At present, 115 items are reserved for the small scale sector. We will continue to reserve these items as it helps in promoting the small scale sector," industry secretary Ajay Dua said today. |
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| Addressing a conference on the state of competition in the Indian economy, Dua said the government has reduced the number of reserved items from 812 to 115 items over the years. "In fact, recently the government decided to de-reserve 125 items," he said. |
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| Other speakers at the conference were critical of the complexity of rules in the country. "Business rules in India are still complex and this affects the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector", said T A Bhavani, associate professor, Institute of Economic Growth. |
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| "It takes 68 days in India to obtain an electrical connection, compared with 10 in China. Similarly, closing a business takes 10.5 years in India while in China the time taken is just 2.5 years. All this prevents the industry from being competitive," she added. |
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| Some speakers also highlighted the need for the Competition Commission of India to check price cartels. |
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| Manoj Pant, professor, international studies, Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, said within the cement industry there is some evidence of both price fixation and market sharing activities. "This can be construed to be anti-competitive according to the Competition Act," he added. |
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| Referring to cement cartels, Sanjay Pandey, professor, National Law University, said the Competition Commission of India should take up cartel cases in cement, tyre and chemical industries. |
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| "CCI should undertake study of cartel cases. It should encourage companies to report cartel activities and get amnesty. Also, CCI needs to be equipped with the power to conduct search and seizure activities to check cartels," he said. |
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