Industry demands better infra for erstwhile 'Manchester of the East'

Industrialists in Kanpur, major hub of leather; textile and packaging, rued lack of a progressive industrial policy in UP

Kanpur, the erstwhile ‘Manchester of the East’, has been the victim of utter neglect and apathy by the successive regimes in Uttar Pradesh, despite the region contributing handsomely to the exchequer by way of taxes.

The industrialists based in Kanpur, which is a major hub of leather, textile and packaging industries in this part of India, rued the lack of a progressive industrial policy in UP.

“The situation is really bad so far as industry is concerned. The government is simply not concerned whether industries survive or not,” Jet Knitwear Managing Director Balram Narula, also a leading voice for industry in UP, said.

A select group of industrialists participated in deliberations organised as prelude to ‘Samriddhi 2013’, the flagship annual roundtable conference organised by Business Standard Hindi edition.

The event was aimed at gathering the opinion of industrialists to enrich the proceedings of Samriddhi to be held tomorrow in Lucknow. ‘Samriddhi 2013, the fourth edition of the event, would bring together policy makers, industrialists, bankers, economists and academia under one roof to brainstorm the development agenda for UP.

“We have been meeting senior bureaucrats for the redress of our grievances, but sadly no one cares for industry in UP,” Narula added.

Tarun Kheterpal of Kripal Textile lamented that the various government departments, including the key UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC), were inactive and paid little attention towards the growth of industry or encouraging investment.

“While there is multiplicity of government agencies dealing with industries, there is scant respect for industrialists…we are looked down upon as violators of law, which is sad,” he said.

“The various industrial enclaves, which generate the major chunk of revenue for the state government deserve better infrastructure facilities such as roads,” he added.

In the course of deliberations, law and order, public corruption, bad governance, lack of single window system and absence of political will power for rapid industrial development emerged as the major lacunae in UP.

“We do not want our next generation to work in Kanpur given the bad infrastructure for industries. This amply sums up the mood amongst industrialists. The policies in UP are not conducive for the growth of MSMEs. There are no incentives for us,” Tasty Dairy Specialties Private Limited CMD Atul Mehra underlined.

Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn CMD M P Agarwal listed the various sops given by other states to textile industry for power and land. “The industrial areas get uninterrupted and cheaper power supply in Madhya Pradesh unlike UP. In Maharashtra, we get interest free loan,” he claimed.