No ease of doing business in Chandigarh: Industrialists

Chandigarh, July 29

Blaming the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the UT Administration for sitting over crucial issues concerning the industries and businesses in the city for many years, the Joint Forum of Chandigarh Industries today said they were ready to sell their industrial plots to the Administration at current collector rates.

Similarly, they were even willing to sell their converted plots 25 per cent below collector rates, if the UT Administration agreed to buy those.

Addressing a press conference, presidents and chairpersons of various industries’ associations, under the banner of the Joint Forum of Chandigarh Industries, said the UT Administration and the MHA failed to resolve long-pending issues directly or indirectly affecting their industries and businesses. However, the recent directions given by the Supreme Court to resolve the issues faced by industrialists had given them a ray of hope.

Arun Mahajan, president, Industries Association of Chandigarh, said there was no ease of doing business in Chandigarh. He said when the city was in its primary development stage, the Administration invited entrepreneurs and investors to be a part of its growth by investing and dwelling in the City Beautiful. “Our families played a key role in the development of the Industrial Area. However, due to lopsided policy making over the past few decades, the ‘growth story’ of the businesses in the city turned into a rather sad saga, he added. Chandigarh witnessed mass exodus of industries owing to various factors, which largely remained unresolved for decades, he said.

Chander Verma, chairman, Converted Plot Owners Association of Chandigarh, said the Prime Minister’s proven track record of success in industrial development and his initiatives like Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index and Make in India had given the entrepreneurs a great hope of reaping its benefit. However, Chandigarh, a UT directly controlled by the MHA, still remained consistently low on all national level ratings such as EoDB rankings of states based on the parameters of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), EoDB under Innovation Ratings of NITI Aayog and sustainable development goals ratings of the United Nations Development Program.

Naveen Manglani, former president of Chamber of Chandigarh Industries, said over the years, views of the stakeholders had either not been solicited for policy making or were ignored in the final drafts. “The Supreme Court has taken cognisance and is monitoring the issues of industries such as leasehold to freehold conversion and MSMED activities. There are several other issues which also need immediate attention and resolution,” he said.