The Hindu : Karnataka News : GMCI gives itself a make-over

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

GMCI gives itself a make-over

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, OCT. 13. The old "brand name," Mysore, which for long stood for industrial progress, has disappeared from another name board. The Greater Mysore Chamber of Industry has shed "Mysore" and renamed itself Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC).

The GMCI had been named after Mysore by one of its founders, the late M.A. Srinivasan, an ace administrator and a Minister in the erstwhile Mysore State.

Calling itself the BCIC, the association of industrialists has expressed serious concern over the decline in the industrial component in the State's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Decline

S. Chandrashekar, president of the BCIC, told presspersons here today that there was a decline of 25 per cent to 30 per cent in the industrial component in the State's GDP, and that a number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were facing problems.

The three major factors hampering industrial activity in the State were cost of power, which, he said, was one of the highest in the country, lack of access to finance and an "unfriendly" tax structure.

Mr. Chandrashekar said that not only was the industrial sector getting inadequate power supply but it had to pay high tariffs at the rate of Rs. 4.30 paise for a unit.

The Government had not made any incremental investment in the power sector and the industry was worried over it as many industries could not afford captive power generation.

As for roads, he said road connectivity in the State was poor at 67.7 km per 100 square km while it was 152.3 km per 100 square km in Tamil Nadu. If industrial activity had to improve in Bangalore, the Government should lay emphasis on road connectivity. It had to take steps to decongest Bangalore and one move in that direction was laying roads to satellite towns and nearby places, he said.

Task force

The BCIC, Mr. Chandrashekar said, had appointed a task force to find out a solution to the slowdown in the SME sector and the report would be ready in two months. The BCIC would meet the Government to impress upon it the urgency to resolve the problems of the industries.

The coalition Government, he said, was listening to the problems but not much action had taken place. The BCIC would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Government shortly to help improve infrastructure and that included upgrading ITIs (BCIC will work with the Government on improving five ITIs) and other issues.

Fund

The BCIC had urged the Government to increase the Technology Fund from Rs. 50 crores as the requirement of the SMEs was huge, he said.

The Union and State governments should contribute to the fund.

The Government would also be pressured to open food parks, which had been cleared.

The BCIC, he mentioned, was committed to correcting regional imbalance and was planning several initiatives. It had proposed to anchor a major programme in north Karnataka with Gulbarga as the launching pad.

The BCIC would work with the Hyderabad-Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry and come out with sector-specific projects for private sector domestic and foreign investment, he added.

Theme

Mr. Chandrashekar said that in line with the shifting business environment, the BCIC had adopted the theme "Competitiveness through innovation and technology." The focus would be on enhancing productivity and efficiency. The BCIC would take a business mission specifically for SMEs to a few ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries, he added.

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