CII’s
vision for the western states
CII
unveils its agenda for bolstering manufacturing in Maharashtra and other
western states; plans roadshows, seminars and workshops
Apart
from facilitating growth in key areas such as manufacturing, agriculture
and information technology, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
(Western Region) plans to draft a manufacturing policy for Maharashtra,
aimed at attracting higher investment to the state during 2003-04. CII’s
agenda for Maharashtra and other states in the western region was released
at a press conference held on June 26 at the Taj, Mumbai.
In
his welcome address, Dr Naushad Forbes, Vice Chairman of CII, Maharashtra
State Council said, “The state has to market itself. The CII, on its
part, has decided to market the state through a series of roadshows,
seminars and workshops in India and abroad.”
While
releasing the confederation’s agenda, Firdose A Vandrevala, Chairman
of CII (Western Region), emphasised that for India to achieve 8 per
cent GDP growth rate, manufacturing has to grow at 11 per cent of GDP.
“Our cardinal theme will be ‘Competitiveness for growth’. We will be
laying more emphasis on making things happen than just organising seminars
and workshops,” he said.
“Maharashtra
should become the first state in the country to have a Manufacturing
Policy as a growth booster. It should be able to exploit the state’s
manufacturing potential,” added Mr Vandrevala.
One
of India’s most prosperous states in India, contributing 13 per cent
of the GDP and 20 per cent of India’s industrial output, at one time,
Maharashtra’s fiscal position is today in shambles. The fiscal deficit
has been bloating up from 1.7 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product
(GSDP) in 1993-94 to a debilitating 3.1 per cent last fiscal. What is
more, the State’s off-balance sheet borrowings and guarantees were in
the region of Rs 83,799 crore last financial year – almost 50 per cent
of the GSDP. “This is definitely an area of serious concern and calls
for some tough decisions such as curbing off-budget borrowings and exercising
greater control on non-development expenditure,” Mr Vandrevala pointed
out.
Investments
in the state have come down from over Rs 10,000 crore in 1994-95 to
as little as Rs 65 crore in 2002-03. Mr Vandrevala apprised that as
part of its thrust on the manufacturing sector, CII has recommended
creation of ‘competitive clusters’ such as automotive and light engineering
pilot projects in Pune, and development of specialised manufacturing
centres in ‘Tier-II towns’ such as Nashik, Nagpur, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri.
Besides,
injecting knowledge in areas like total productivity management, total
quality management, vendor management, strategic sourcing, taxation,
cost management and business development, the confederation also aims
at identifying corridors for infrastructure development in the competitive
clusters, he said.
The
CII has submitted a detailed report on ‘Simplification of Factory
Rules in Maharashtra’, another move aimed at creation of competitive
clusters in the state. It has also suggested the formation of a Task
Force to administer reforms through privatisation of urban distribution,
time-bound reduction of transmission and distribution losses, cross
subsidy reduction and corporatising the electricity board, said Mr Vandrevala.
CII would initiate an awareness drive for implementation of VAT through
roadshows and workshops.
The
marketing drive of states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
is attracting more investments in the southern region. Fresh initiatives
of CII in the manufacturing sector, one hopes, would bring similar results
for the western region as well.
Team
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