RSS-backed body throws spanner in UP industrial policy

The proposed industrial policy of the Uttar Pradesh government has not gone down well with an RSS-backed body demanding that certain points in the draft be reconsidered.
Throwing a spanner in the policy, Laghu Udyog Bharti, an RSS affiliate associated with small scale industries and having a network of MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) in the country, said it is sore that there is no encouragement for the industries which have either closed down or are on the verge of closure.
"Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on June 9 approved the draft of new industrial policy. The policy seems to be quite promising for the new industries, but there is no encouragement for industries that have either closed down or are on the verge of closure," General Secretary of Laghu Udyog Bharti (Uttar Pradesh unit) Ravindra Singh told PTI today.

"We welcome the policy, but request the BJP government to reconsider some points in the draft of the policy," he said.
Laghu Udyog Bharti is a confederation of numerous MSME units across the country and endorses the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"The encouragement given to the MSME sector as compared to the mega projects is very less. The MSME sector is the backbone of the state's economy and contributes tremendously in development of the state and in employment generation," Singh said.

"Hence, the yardstick should have been the same for the MSME sector and mega industrial units in terms of financial encouragement," he said.

Singh said office bearers of Laghu Udyog Bharti will soon meet UP Cabinet minister Satyadev Pachauri to voice their concern.
Singh was also of the view that one-time financial assistance should be given to those industrial units which have either closed down or are on the verge of closure to revamp themselves.
Meanwhile, industry body ASSOCHAM (Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India) said the Uttar Pradesh government has to win the confidence of investors in the state to attract investment.
"The industrial policy of the state should be vibrant and incentive-driven," ASSOCHAM president Sandeep Jajodia and general secretary DS Rawat told PTI after their recent meeting with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here.

"FDI in UP stands at 0.02 per cent. Owing to absence of encouragement to investors, the current dismal situation is prevailing. If the state government does not give any encouragement, why should investors come? They will go to other states like Maharashtra or Gujarat," Jajodia told PTI.
ASSOCHAM is willing to give suggestions to the state government for its new industrial policy, he said.
Rawat said ASSOCHAM is going to constitute a committee, which will study the industrial policy of various states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and some southern states and give certain suggestions to the UP government.
"By July 15, we will give our recommendations to the UP government. Our focus will be on MSME as well as bigger industries and also on FDI," Rawat said, adding that UP government had invited suggestions from different stakeholders for drafting its industrial policy.

Rawat noted that the industrial policy of the previous Akhilesh Yadav government had attracted foreign investment in warehousing, food processing and MSME, but it was not enough.