The Hindu Business Line : Mysore chamber aims at SME revival plan

KARNATAKA'S once-famous manufacturing prowess has been showing an alarming decline in recent years, dropping to around 25 per cent of the State GDP. The employment potential of the sector, in particular of the SMEs, has fallen 25-30 per cent of the total, with the service sector ruling the roost at over 52 per cent, according to the Greater Mysore Chamber of Industry.

Concerned over the trend, the chamber plans to urge the State Government to initiate a revival plan for SMEs. The chamber itself has set up a task force headed by former Chief Secretary, Dr A. Ravindra, to look into the slowdown and suggest policy and funding mechanisms to pull the SMEs out of trouble.

The chamber President, Mr S. Chandrasekhar, on Wednesday said the task force was expected to complete the study in a couple of months and take the report to the Industry Minister.

Mr Chandrasekhar said Karnataka's SMEs were plagued mainly by a differential taxation scheme with other States which was the highest in the country; double entry tax; high cost of power at Rs 4.30 per unit and lack of access to funds for modernisation.

The chamber would work closely with the Government and expected to sign an MoU for this. Some of the urgent measures would be a lower and rational taxation policy, improved power scene and a larger technology development fund that now stands at Rs 50 crore.

The chamber would also work with the State to upgrade five of the 10 industrial training institutes (ITIs) under a Central scheme. It would also take a business mission to Japan and Asean countries to study the SME competitiveness there.

`Govt must review tax disparity': The local industry, in particular electronics, electrical, cement, computer software and hardware sectors, would be in trouble and lose its edge if the Government did not review the tax disparity, said Mr S. Venkataramani, the chamber's taxation committee chairman. It would be disastrous as this was introduced during 2004-05, to be taken as the base year for the VAT regime.

GMCI becomes BCIC

GMCI is now the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The 25-year-old chamber said its activities and services remain unchanged. Being based in Bangalore and operating on a global level, it had finally decided to shed the confusing `Mysore' tag. The first name was derived from the erstwhile Mysore State, the chamber announced on Wednesday.

It has adopted `competitiveness through innovation and technology' as this year's theme, aimed at enhancing all-round industrial productivity.

BCIC has 450 members, with a collective turnover of its State members alone amounting to Rs 30,000 crore, gross export turnover of Rs 12,000 or 28 per cent of the State exports.

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