Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 20: Association of Industries, Gangyal Jammu has appealed the Lt Governor, his Advisors and concerned authorities to expeditiously devise ways and means to put the local industrial sector back on revival path in specified time schedule.
In an emergency meeting, held under the chairmanship of Rattan Dogra, President AoI, the present entrepreneurs appreciated the J&K Govt’s decision to constitute high powered committee under the directions of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to provide relief to business community with special emphasis to associate industrial Associations actively to mitigate the grievances of the local MSME sector to put local industrial sector back on revival path.
The entrepreneurs were firmly of the view that before a comprehensive package is finalized, the J&K UT Govt should immediately waive off the Minimum Demand Charges in their electricity bills for all categories of local units effective from March, 2020 onwards or adjust the amount already through their future billing. Simultaneously UT Govt should also borne the interest element of their loans through Direct Benefit Transfer mode as first step of the inclination of the UT Govt to enable local MSME units to come out of the worst impact of the spread of Covid-19 epidemic, they added.
“AoI firmly believes the process should also include the scrapping of the Industrial Policy of 2016 which is covertly and overtly responsible for the present miserable plight of the local industrial sector further deprived by way of the withdrawal of the local playing field that existed through VAT Remission prior to the implementation of the GST regime. Local marketing has further shrunk with the withdrawal of the toll tax at entry points with the flooding of the products imported unaccounted from the neighboring states,’ they explained and informed that a huge number of local units established primarily to cater to the requirements of the Govt deptts and agencies in their developmental projects have literally been forced close first with the lack of procurement orders subsequently withholding of their payments for years together.
AoI requested the Lt Governor, his Advisors and concerned authorities to expeditiously devise ways and means to put the local industrial sector back on revival path in specified time schedule to make the exercise meaningful and mutually beneficial.
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