MP units demand separate ministry

As many as 12 small and medium enterprise associations have demanded a separate ministry for SMEs in Madhya Pradesh. Most of them feel that for effective redressal of their long-pending demands, the department of industry is a big hurdle. They also feel that the department’s focus on organising events is of no use to the small units.

“During the last four years, the state government organised a number of mega events to attract investment from large industries. However, the outcome is almost nothing,” an office bearer of an SME association said. The associations have various long-pending demands pertaining to improvement in infrastructure, creation of autonomous bodies for tax collection in industrial areas and appropriate power billing.

“State government has assured us on number of occasions that these demands will be fulfilled, but implementation is yet to speed up,” Rajendra Prasad, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) chairperson, MP Chapter, said.

“The state government had assured ‘Jitni Bijli Utna Bill’ in an event organised at Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s residence. But it has yet to be implemented. Similarly, the creation of a separate local self governance body in industrial areas is yet to be set up. In the absence of a proper mechanism, the industrial units pay two-tier tax in industrial areas. A separate ministry is urgently needed for SMEs,” RS Goswami, president, MP small scale industries association, said.

The SMEs in Madhya Pradesh manufacture and supplies various items from auto components to engineering goods to the large industries. But higher interest rates, poor infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles and typical documentation system have marred the sector’s growth. The state industry minister Kailash Vijayavergiya is coming up with a new industrial policy and SMEs have been assured proper and adequate representaion in the party.