Industry seeks sops, power, infra from T govt

Lauds KCR for working hard to formulate best industrial policy in the country

Hyderabad: Industries bodies and industrialists who participated in a six-hour long interaction meeting with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday underlined the need for uninterrupted power, attractive incentives and adequate infrastructure facilities to convert into Telangana into the country’s model industrial state.

A total of 45 industrial bodies including the local representatives of CII and FICCI actively took part in the interactive meeting organized by the Government of Telangana and offered their suggestions to be included in the upcoming new industrial policy. They urged the government to set up local industrial corridors, establish industrial clusters and make obtaining clearances a hassle-free exercise.

“Telangana is already home to a large pharmaceutical industry. More people are keen to set up base in the State. But it all depends on the tax incentives offered by the government. That’s something they are looking forward to. Tax incentives will attract large investments in pharmaceutical space as Hyderabad has abundant talent pool for the sector,” Satish Reddy, Chairman, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and President, India Pharmaceutical Alliance, said.

He also suggested that Telangana government should create more clusters on the lines of Genome Valley to encourage innovations in life sciences and pharma segments. “We need these because only innovations will take pharma sector forward,” he explained, urging the government to simplify regulatory issues related to pollution control.

Emphasizing that industries and Telangana government shared a common vision when it comes to industrial development, Ms Sangita Reddy, Chairperson, AP and Telangana chapter of Ficci and Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals, assured the government that industry would only bring viable proposals. Ms Reddy called for special focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are backbone of the economy.

Praising Chandrasekhar Rao and Telangana government for having a clear strategy to take the new state on a growth path, she said: “We feel encouraged by your practical approach. No posturing and practical approach are realities of life”.

On vision for Hyderabad, she said the government should form a citizen’s committee and take their inputs on developmental aspect. B V R Mohan Reddy, Nasscom’s Vice Chairman and Executive Chairman of Cyient, said that for industrial development, there should be no corruption. “Besides, we need proper infrastructure, security and hassle-free approvals,” he explained.

Describing Chandrasekhar Rao as best brand ambassador for Telangana, Reddy said the government should encourage startup ecosystem in the state. “It is proved that nearly 60 per cent of the jobs are created across the world by startups. Telangana government should encourage startup culture in a big way,” he said.

According to him, the government should focus on manufacturing sector which will create large number of jobs. “There are immense opportunities in electronics manufacturing. Telangana should tap them,” he said, underlining the need for improving quality of education in engineering colleges. Proposing a 10-point agenda for new Telangana state to attract investments, Suresh Shetty of CII, said Hyderabad should be the skill capital of India. “We should make Telangana a nation hub of manufacturing and innovation,” he said, adding that all the districts should have industrial development.

Shiv Kumar Rungta, President, Fapcci, said efforts should be made to stabilize the existing industries which suffered a lot due to power shortage in the past couple of years. “To attract new investments, new industrial corridors should created along the national highways from Hyderabad and new industrial clusters should be established across the state,” he said.

Seeking encouragement for dalit entrepreneurs, Narra Ravi Kumar of Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dicci), said government should direct the large companies to give orders to the SMEs promoted by dalit entrepreneurs. “It will be a big boost for dalit entrepreneurs if government offers tax incentives to those large companies which offer works to dalits,” he said.

Pointing out that power shortages had crippled the SME sector and turned several industries into sick units, A P K Reddy, President, Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (FSME), said government should provide uninterrupted power for the existing SMEs. He found fault with power transmission companies for imposing huge penalties on industries for excess use of power. He blamed impractical NPA norms for closure of several units in the state.

J Nageswara Rao, President, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small Industries Association (Fapsia), suggested to the government to come out with an exclusive industrial policy to encourage SMEs. “There should be special industrial Budget for MSMEs and a corpus fund to revive sick units,” he said.