Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked the Coordination Committee on Trade and Industry to put in place a ‘Make in Punjab’ initiative as well as take the view of the industry on ways and means to rationalise taxes in order to give a fillip to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).Disclosing this here today, the Deputy CM’s media advisor – Jangveer Singh disclosed that Mr Badal had asked the Coordination Committee on Trade and Industry Affairs headed by Parliamentary Secretaries Sarup Chand Singla and N K Sharma to meet representatives of MSMEs and come out with a package which could do away with any inconvenience being faced by them.
The message is clear. The MSME sector is the pride of Punjab. The Deputy chief minister has asked the Coordination Committee to put MSMEs back on track and ensure the problems being faced by them are resolved at the earliest”, Mr Jangveer Singh disclosed. He said the Coordination Committee has also been asked to put the Make in Punjab initiative in place quickly. This initiative is aimed at encouraging Punjab manufacturers. The Committee will recommend the “priority quota” which can be fixed for Punjab manufacturers in government tenders. As a first step the Committee could recommend fixing a 30 to 40 per cent quota for domestic manufacturers in purchase of transformers. This could be followed by encouraging purchase of domestic meters and even poles besides other bulk equipment needed by various government departments.
This step is expected to boost domestic production.Besides this the Committee is also likely to interact with a broad spectrum of MSMEs to take their view on how to rationalise taxes. It is likely to give a special emphasis on giving an impetus to the sports, hosiery and bicycle industries which are facing challenges due to competition from Chinese goods.The Committee will also look into the problems being faced by the domestic industry due to import of mustard and cotton oils from other States. It will also discuss the demand for lower tax rate for manufacturing of cattle feed from oil seeds. EOM