Gujarat sets up special zones to prop small enterprises

Friday, 18 July 2003, 19:30 IST
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AHMEDABAD: Gujarat has started setting up special industrial zones and parks to make small and medium enterprises (SMEs) more competitive and to retain its share of exports. "The state government is aware of the challenges and opportunities before SMEs, particularly in the WTO (World Trade Organisation) regime. A draft bill is before the cabinet for approval," Gujarat Industry Minister Anil Patel told IANS. "The bill covers guidelines to set up industrial zones and parks accessible to SMEs," Patel said on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) meeting to discuss the Small Enterprise Development Bill. SMEs contribute about 70 percent to Gujarat's industrial production and account for more than 35 percent of exports from the state. The central government has sought suggestions from trade and industry before it finalises what is termed as a "single window bill", focussing exclusively on the small-scale industry (SSI). CII has been working on the bill, likely to be tabled in the upcoming session of Parliament beginning next week, since October 2001 with help from B. Yerram Raju, managing director of Sandilya Consultants. CII has been organising meetings of SSI and holding discussions on a final draft. It is expected to submit its final recommendations by July 21. The state government has already begun work on parks for apparel, biotechnology, diamonds, gems and jewellery. "Besides, we are also creating facilities for an IT park. The cluster approach for small scale industries has started paying off," Patel said. The minister said the possible benefits of the Narmada dam project, coupled with the discovery of gas and the special economic zone (SEZ) status granted to Kandla port, had opened up new avenues for the state's industrial development. But all these efforts notwithstanding, there was a lot the SSI sector had to do for itself, Patel said. "The most important inputs for SSI are technology and marketing. A proper infrastructure is required for this and the government alone cannot provide this. Small units can help themselves by taking initiatives to set up a state level cooperative structure to support their technology and marketing needs. "The structure could be supported from outside by state agencies such as Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). But the initiative has to come from the SSI sector... The state government will play the role of facilitator," Patel said. Industry secretary Amarjit Singh said provisions of the draft bill had been brought to the notice of the government. Raju said small scale industries needed organised support. "The government would need to align the activity for SSI sector with the basic sector of the economy - agriculture. And in order to align SSI with the main industrial sector, the benefits of the law should be given to the small sector under voluntary registration," he said. He pointed out that the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan and several countries had provided for specific obligations of the state towards support and protection of the SSI sector. The draft bill also addressed the issue of sickness and rehabilitation of small enterprises by giving them statutory status and added other bankruptcy and insolvency provisions as necessary.
Source: IANS
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