Obsolete machinery imports choking Batala’s industrial growth: Industrialists

Genuine businessmen in Batala have claimed that a large section of the city’s industrialists are importing old and obsolete machinery at throwaway prices and, after applying superficial finishing touches, selling it in the market. This practice, they allege, is “crowding out honest industrialists”.

Industrialists say this is a major reason why genuine manufacturers are rapidly shifting their base to other states, leaving the city slowly turning into a “ghost town”.

While the problem is most pronounced in Batala — often referred to as the ‘steel town’, a euphemism coined during the city’s heyday in the machine-tool sector — it is also prevalent in other traditional manufacturing clusters such as Ludhiana, Rajkot, Coimbatore, Kolhapur and Peenya in Bengaluru, which is considered Asia’s largest industrial estate.

Paramjit Singh Gill, president of the Batala Industrial Estate Factories’ Association (BIEFA), said an extensive survey was recently conducted to ascertain why businessmen were relocating their assets and infrastructure to other states.

“The domestic machine-tool industry is being undercut by cranky, second-hand machines imported at scrap value. These machines are refurbished and sold at cheap rates, automatically crowding out genuine manufacturers and turning the country into a dumping ground for archaic technology. Hundreds of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are fighting a losing battle. This is not fair competition,” said Gill, a leading manufacturer of defence products.

He added that 20- to 30-year-old Computer Numerical Control (CNC) lathe machines, imported at scrap prices, are being sold at 30-40 per cent below the cost of a brand-new machine manufactured by Indian MSMEs. “Cost-conscious buyers compare only the headline price, not accuracy, reliability or energy efficiency,” Gill said.

Ravinder Handa, another prominent industrialist, said a significant portion of Batala’s once-renowned industry has already migrated to states that offer a more conducive manufacturing environment. “Such states strictly regulate imports of old machinery. In Batala, however, the result is a distorted market where quality and innovation are penalised, while obsolescence is rewarded,” he said.

Industrialists also warned that this trend is severely hampering technological upgradation. “MSMEs cannot invest in advanced CNC controls, automation or energy-efficient designs when the market refuses to pay even the basic cost of manufacturing. Ironically, while the government promotes smart manufacturing and higher productivity, markets are flooded with energy-guzzling, unsafe and outdated machines imported from abroad,” Handa added.