Their visit generated hope among the MSME industrialists. But the minister has only gone so far as to say that grievances will be heard and considered at the discussion meeting with the MSME minister.
Coimbatore: The industrial city of Coimbatore is renowned not only nationally but also globally in various industry domains including textile, automobile spare parts, castings, wet grinders, motor pump sets, and engineering products.
There are over one and a half lakh registered companies and more than 30 thousand micro enterprises operating in the Coimbatore district. More than 8 lakh workers are employed in manufacturing companies.
In Coimbatore, an important industrial city, all industries have been plunged into a severe crisis due to various reasons, including rising commodity prices and GST-related problems. The prices of various raw materials used in the manufacturing industry, such as copper, steel, aluminum, and castings, have increased by a whopping 100 to 200 percent.
The situation is getting worse day by day. The MSME industries from across the country went on a one-day shutdown and tried to attract the attention of the central government to no avail.
Requests continue to be sent in person and via letters to date, but no action has been taken. Under such circumstances, Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came to Coimbatore last week to attend various events.
Their visit generated hope among the MSME industrialists. But the minister has only gone so far as to say that grievances will be heard and considered at the discussion meeting with the MSME minister.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not seem to be interested in holding a discussion meeting with the industry. During her stay here she left only to attend an appreciation ceremony held on behalf of the textile industry.
Thus, the visit of the ministers has proven to be a great disappointment to the stakeholders of the industries in Coimbatore. The Central Government is not interested in 'MSME' business development!
President of the Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro enterprises (TACT), James said, “Small and medium enterprises play an important role in the industrial development of the country. The rise in raw material prices has had a major impact on the industry, which has been struggling to recover from the post-Corona epidemic. We have been making various demands to the Central Government for the last two years. To date, the problem of rising raw material prices has not been resolved.
The government instead of helping us overcome this crisis is only creating more struggles for us. The best example of this is the fact that from the date of implementation of the last 2017 GST, till 2021, businesses that have paid the GST tax late are being fined in millions.
Demands have been made for more than a decade, including the requests for the setting up of a separate industrial park for small businesses in Coimbatore, a warehousing facility for raw materials, and the opening of a public sector company. No action has been taken yet. We met the union MSME minister in Coimbatore and conveyed our key demands.
We recently met the same minister in person in Delhi. Given the context, we were waiting for some favorable announcements to be made during their recent visit to Coimbatore. But to our great disappointment, no action was taken regarding this and no such announcements were made. They just said that we will be rewarded and left.
The central government is unilaterally focusing on the development of large companies. The growth of companies in the micro and small business segment is being disregarded. Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met only a handful of MSME industry organizations in Coimbatore and received the petition. Various attempts by various MSME industry bodies, by approaching the BJP and party executives, to meet the minister have been in vain.”
Disappointment was all that was left!
Surulivel, the Vice President of Tamil Nadu Small and Micro Enterprises (TANSTIA) said:
“Small and medium enterprises are facing a crisis day by day due to the problem of rising raw material prices. If this situation continues, many small and medium enterprises will disappear.
The visit of the Union Ministers to Coimbatore caused great anticipation and expectation among the business community. In particular, during the discussion meeting with the Minister of MSME, the industry discussed various issues and made necessary demands, but the Union Minister went on to say only that the request would be considered.
All attempts by them to meet the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ended in failure.
The Union Ministers should immediately issue announcements to address the issues faced by small businesses in consultation with the industry and address key issues. If not, many small and medium enterprises will leave the industry in the coming days. Overall, the Coimbatore visit of the two ministers has only proven to be a disappointment to the industry.”