The Hindu : SSIs not enthused by 'rural' promise

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

SSIs not enthused by 'rural' promise

By R. Gopalakrishnan

HOSUR Aug. 26. A near-full house, during sessions devoted to problems of small-scale industries, and thin and far-from-attentive audiences during presentations by State Government officials on agro-industries at the two-day STICON 2002 here, symbolise the limited success of attempts being made to effect a change in the structure of the SSI sector.

It is doubtful to what extent the hundreds of entrepreneurs gathered for the annual convention of the Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association were impressed with the hopes pinned on agro-processing industries, under the New Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (NAMT), to change the face of the State's rural economy, as explained by the Director of Industries and Commerce, Karuthiah Pandian. Or by the promise held out by the Commissioner and Director of Indian Medicines and Homoeopathy, M.F.Farooqui, of ``a fortune to be made, though not a gold rush'', in both the domestic and export markets, by manufacturing herbal extracts and medicines under scientific and internationally-acceptable processes.

Mr. Pandian said arrangements were being made to get authorised consultants to certify compliance with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points standards of the European Union by processed and semi-processed foods exports from Tamil Nadu. He asked entrepreneurs to tap the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council literature for selecting agro-products that commanded a big market abroad.

Mr. Farooqui, while highlighting India's advantage in terms of biodiversity that was conducive to production of herbs of a large variety, pointed out the hurdles such as lack of standardised manufacturing and packaging practices.

To add to the lustre of the agro-processing sector, Bharathi, managing director of a consultancy firm, showed the huge difference in margins that application of biotechnology would make for farmers and entrepreneurs.

But the issues which exercised entrepreneurs were of a different kind.

For instance, the absence of title deeds for land in Hosur (as a result of a tiff between the SIDCO and the SIPCOT) which, they said, prevented industries from using land as collateral to raise loans.

Or the inordinate hike in price, which entrepreneurs of the Guindy electronics estate had to pay to the SIDCO following a ``politically-motivated action'' by it during the previous regime.

The TANSTIA President, A.Selvaraj, wanted attention paid to sickness of existing SSIs (in contrast to the approach, of the officialdom, of treating manufacturing units as inherently uncompetitive in the new market environment).

Concerns of SSI associations in the districts included denial of opportunity to conduct PMRY training programmes (Ramanathapuram), proximity of tax-haven Pondicherry thwarting industrialisation, high cost of power and service tax for ice plants and frequent transfer of DIC officials (Cuddalore) and complicated procedures for obtaining the ``no-antique certificate'' from the Archaeology Department faced by icon manufacturers (Thanvjavur).

Implementation of the East Coast Road project at Tuticorin with a soft loan from Japan and Cuddalore port development were among the long-term issues raised.

The one concrete relief from officialdom was the announcement (and reiterated) by the Dharmapuri Collector, M.A.Siddique, that he would meet representatives of industry every third Friday of each quarter, starting this September.

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