Traders delegation meets industry director, submits memorandum

A delegation of the Federation of Industrial & Commercial Organization (FICO), under the leadership of president Gurmeet Singh Kular, along with general secretary Manjinder Singh Sachdeva, met DPS Kharbanda, Director of Industries, Punjab, and submitted a memorandum to him, seeking immediate resolutions to the problems being faced by them.

The members said Punjab was a landlocked state, where raw materials came from other states and finished products were sent to other states as well.

They said Punjab was lacking in terms of industrial growth in comparison to other states of the country. Also, due to various road closures on the many borders of the state, the cost of transportation for both incoming and outgoing material increased manifold.

They said it was high time the government of Punjab saved the industrial establishments of the state by removing unwanted obstacles and boosting growth.

Members of the FICO said a few years ago, Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation (PSIEC) had issued a notice demanding Rs 249 per square yard from the allottees of plots in Focal Point Phase-VIII, which was finally settled at Rs 24 per square yard.

Then again, the PSIEC issued a notice and demanded Rs 474 per square yard from the plot allottees, whereas it had already taken 100 percent anticipatory enhancement charges.

Now with the inclusion of interest and other charges, the cost had reached around Rs 2,500 per square yard, which, the members said, was totally unjustified and unviable.

They requested the director to get the penal interest waived immediately, as they were already being charged a 21 percent interest rate even when the rate of interest at any bank was not more than seven per cent.

They requested the director to launch an amnesty scheme for the plot holders of Phase-VIII to settle the issue once and for all.