The Hindu : New Delhi News : Single agency should maintain industrial areas: PHDCCI

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 18, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Single agency should maintain industrial areas: PHDCCI

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 17. The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry today called upon the Delhi Government to assign the Delhi Small Industries Development Corporation (DSIDC) the responsibility of developing and maintaining infrastructure in the existing industrial areas of Delhi in order to retain and promote the existing industrial base in the Capital.

The Chamber said the Delhi Government can curb the increasing exodus of small units to the neighbouring regions by making DSIDC a single agency to provide adequate and quality infrastructure in terms of basic civic amenities, uninterrupted power supply and common facilities to these industrial areas. It noted that the Delhi Government should also weigh the option of public-private partnership for the purpose.

For the model to succeed, PHDCCI suggested that a suitable mechanism for maintenance of industrial areas should be created whereby independent reputed companies in the private sector are identified and maintenance contracts are given to them.

Also, it said, the involvement of industrial area associations in maintenance should be encouraged through a mechanism of transferring a share of the revenue collected from the industrial areas through property tax and other levies.

Underlining that such proactive measures have become imperative as lack of inter-agency cooperation and lack of clarity of roles is impeding the efforts of providing much-needed infrastructure in these industrial estates, the Chamber said it was a matter of serious concern that in some industrial areas civic services are non-existent as Delhi Development Authority has not handed over the industrial areas to Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

As such, PHDCCI has called upon the Delhi Government to remove such anomalies and expedite setting up a single agency for maintenance of all the 28 approved industrial areas to provide immediate support to the small and medium enterprises in Delhi.

Commenting on the sad state of infrastructure in these industrial areas, PHDCCI has observed that most industrial areas in Delhi are without proper roads, drainage, sewage, water and streetlighting and waste disposal facilities for the last three decades.

But the worst problem, it said, was that the environment in these industrial areas was getting adversely affected by jhuggis, encroachments on roads and pavements, footpaths and in many cases the front gate of the factories.

Noting that growth and further development of these areas holds significance for Delhi's prosperity as the industries in these areas provide direct employment to large number of un-skilled and semi-skilled workers, it warned that if due attention is not provided to them they would not be in a position to sustain their present operations leading to major loss of revenue to the State exchequer.

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