Pondicherry: The Deputy Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Southern Region, P.K. Mohapatra, acknowledged the pro-active role the administration had been playing in adopting a growth-oriented industrial policy. The Government had been working in tandem with us, he told a press conference here on Saturday. He said that the CII had launched a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) cluster in the Union Territory to enhance internal competitiveness of the enterprises from the point of cost and energy management and to achieve manufacturing excellence.

The SME cluster here would be modelled on the same lines as the SME clusters that existed in Chennai and Hyderabad. With more than 70 per cent of production came from the SME sector, the CII had come to play the role of facilitator. The CII sub-committee (Southern Region) had its meeting earlier and it was decided that every cluster should have a permanent board with representatives from corporate sectors. Mr. Mohapatra said that Pondicherry offered good scope for development in tourism and particularly medical tourism and also in the field of education. Pondicherry also offered a good campus and tie up with overseas educational institutions could also be tapped to develop Pondicherry as more vibrant educational hub.

The Deputy Chairman welcomed the intensive steps taken by the Government to set up a Special Economic Zone to develop units concentrating on automobile and IT related services. Mr. Mohapatra appealed to the Government to fall in line with other States and implement the Value Added Tax.

When his attention was drawn to the stand taken by the administration's ban on industries drawing excess sub-soil water or causing pollution, Mr. Mohapatra said that it was a welcome step and the CII appreciated Government's decision.

Convention centre

Chairman of Pondicherry chapter of the CII P. Sekhar said that there was a proposal to set up a convention centre on the same line as Trade Centre in Chennai. It would be a permanent structure, which would facilitate industry related expositions and also fairs by various organisations. He said that the theme of 2006-2007 for CII was "Innovate to Compete and Sustain". Industry-institute partnership, interaction between the industry and Government would been promoted. The CII here had already published the report on "Economic Agenda for Pondicherry". The CII was planning to hold an Education Fair in January and an IndEx 2007 in March next year.

Vice Chairman of the CII (Pondy) C. Chinnasamy and the Director (Southern Region) Virendra Gupta were also present.

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