Punjab election: Not on anyone's agenda, laments industry

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 10

The industry in poll-bound Punjab is feeling left out from the agendas of almost all mainstream parties in the fray for the electoral battle due on February 20.

Even though the industry contributes to 25% of the Gross State Domestic Product of Rs 5.29 lakh crore, which is exactly the same as being contributed by the agriculture sector (25%), state ndustrialists are feeling left out from the agendas of most parties.

‘Parties need to help us too’

It’s just assumed that industrialists are rich and taken care of. In reality, demonetisation, GST rollout and Covid-induced meltdown has brought the industry to its knees. It’s time that the political parties realise that we, too, need hand-holding. —Industrialists

“The ideological/voter-seducing considerations in elections tends to blank out the industry. So, no one is speaking of industry, because we are a small vote bank. What the political class does not realise is that they need to handhold industry to help it grow, so we pay taxes that can then be used for the overall development and social security to the other segments of society,” says AS Kohli, senior vice-president, Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters, who runs a unit in Phagwara.

Notably, Punjab has nearly 2 lakh MSMEs and 586 large and medium industrial units. The industry has been growing at around 5.8% in the state, against a growth of over 14% in the country. No public sector large industry has come up in the state in the past several years. Rather, in the past two years, since the pandemic began, over 8,800 MSMEs have shutdown in the state.

“But still, we do not figure in the agendas of any party. Taxes are paid by us, but all subsidies and doles are for farmers. We have seen the governments run by two parties here in the past 15 years, and a government in another state by a third political player. None has worked for either promoting industrial investment or growth. The only thing they claim to offer us is cheaper power. But the actual power tariff to industry is 50% more than the promised Rs 5 per unit, at Rs 7.50-Rs 9 per unit. In a nutshell, we have got nothing from any party in the past two decades,” says Badish Jindal, president, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association.

Supporting his views, Ludhiana industrialist SC Ralhan rued leave aside the subsidised power, the inability of the government to ensure adequate supply to the industry in August-September last year had a crippling effect on the latter, which was trying to recover from the Covid-induced economic meltdown.

Hoping that some positive agenda, other than the claims of cheaper power and ease of doing business, was promised for the uplift of the industry, says Rampura Phul-based steel casting unit owner Deepak Saraf, adding that when everyone was talking of “nawan Punjab”, concrete promises to this sector that runs the economy must be made and fulfiled. “We are not asking for doles, but action is needed on reforms, if we want state’s futuristic growth.”