Coimbatore: CODISSIA conducted a meeting with 11 industrial associations to present their problems to Vanathi Srinivasan, the BJP General Secretary in Tamil Nadu. Based on the discussion, the state BJP General Secretary assured that she would present a memorandum to the Central Government, listing the problems faced by the industries and the demands raised by various associations to handle the current economic slow down.
Coimbatore: CODISSIA conducted a meeting with 11 industrial associations to present their problems to Vanathi Srinivasan, the BJP General Secretary in Tamil Nadu. Based on the discussion, the state BJP General Secretary assured that she would present a memorandum to the Central Government, listing the problems faced by the industries and the demands raised by various associations to handle the current economic slow down.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Vanathi Srinivasan said, "In the current scenario when industries are going through a difficult period, this meeting with 11 industrial associations was organised by CODISSIA to ascertain the ground realities, as well as to take account of problems faced by the micro, small and medium industries. Based on the discussions held today with various industrial associations, a memorandum will be submitted to the Central Government. On September 6, along with the CODISSIA President and a few other representatives of the industrial associations, we are meeting Central Ministers including the Finance Minister to represent the issues faced by the MSMEs in Coimbatore. Such meetings will also be held in Tirupur, Karur and Erode to understand the issues in the respective regions," she added.
The demands raised by the industries at the meeting included converting NPA from 90 to 180 days, giving priority to MSMEs in tenders floated by PSUs and a monitoring committee to oversee whether the benefits announced by the Central Government are reaching the MSMEs. Most of the associations pressed upon the demand that banks and financial institutions should be more liberal in granting loans to MSMEs. Representatives from various industrial associations stressed that SIDBI, TIC and other banks have tightened lending to MSMEs and it is causing great pressure on micro, small and medium units. A demand to pay only the interest amount for the current period and the principal amount after three years was also raised.
Speaking at the meeting, Ramamurthy, the President CODISSIA said, "11 associations including CII, SIEMA, COSIEMA, KOPMA and COTMA participated in this discussion. Members of various associations have raised different issues which will be presented as a memorandum to the Central Government. We are expecting the Government to act swiftly on these issues. If this situation continues for two more months, industries will have no option but to resort to lay offs which is already happening in a few sectors," he warned.
Representatives from CODISSIA, CII, SIEMA, COINDIA, COSIEMA, SISPA, IIF, KOPMA, COTMA, COSMAFAN and Lagu Udhyog Bharathi participated in the meeting.