The Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), the apex industry body, has presented a 12-point action plan and a strategy for reviving the manufacturing sector in Karnataka. The BCIC has submitted an action plan to chief minister Siddaramaiah for his consideration.
The chamber released its document - 'Driving Economic Prosperity and Inclusive Growth - Economic Agenda for the government of Karnataka, 2013-18' - here on Monday. The document presents an economic agenda to the government for implementation with a 12-point focus and a strategy to revive manufacturing in the state centred around five themes.
"While we welcome many if not most of the proposals mentioned in the Congress manifesto, in the interest of prioritisation and speedy implementation, the chamber has put together a 12-point action agenda for the government to consider keeping in mind the theme of driving economic prosperity and inclusive growth," M Lakshminarayan, President, BCIC, said.
The chamber's action plan calls for setting up of agro and food processing parks and remove double taxation in APMC Act. Instead of developing an eight-lane road connecting Bidar to Chamarajanagar as announced by Congress party in its pre-poll manifesto, the BCIC has suggested the government to leverage the proposed Mumbai-Bangalore Corridor, which has received an in-principle nod from the Central government.
The state should develop sector-specific industrial zones along the corridor and secondary corridors connecting other parts of the state, to foster equitable, regional development, generate employment and thereby help decongest Bangalore. It has urged the government to push for implementation of GST and rationalisation of taxes.
The chamber has also suggested appointing a dedicated minister for Bangalore's development and focus on roads, power, water supply, waste management and pollution control. It wants the new government to develop Tier-II cities and lay the foundation for them to grow so as to take the pressure off Bangalore.
Expansion or revival of existing industry, facilitating setting up employment-friendly industries and industry-friendly labour laws are some other issues highlighted in its 12-point economic agenda for the new government.
The BCIC has made a special mention on the power sector and asked the government to speed up approvals for pending power projects. The Congress manifesto states that the government will strive to augment generation to 12,000 Mw. Peak demand in March 2013 was 9,823 Mw, of which only 8.096 Mw was met - a deficit of 1,600 Mw or 17.6 per cent. "We urge the government therefore to immediately focus on this facilitating necessary approvals for all pending power projects," Lakshminarayan said.
Apart from its 12-point economic agenda, the BCIC has also detailed five broad themes around which the government can target efforts to revitalise the laggard manufacturing sector.
They are: creation of world class infrastructure, skill development, urban renewal, SME revitalisation and, institutions and governance.
