Hyderabad, October 22: Fear is looming large in the industry sector over the repercussions after Srikrishna Committee sumbits its report on the Telangana issue.
Expressing concerns of the industrial sector to Chief Minister K Rosaiah at a round table organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) — southern council here on Thursday, BVR Mohan Reddy, chairman and managing director, Infotech Enterprises Limited said: “We as an industry are concerned over the disturbances after Srikrishna committee submits its report. Apart from huge loss of revenue, the loss in terms of customer credibility will be lasting. Whatever the outcome of the report, the industry should not suffer,” he said Expressing a similar view, Infosys Technologies Limited MD and chairman of CII southern region Kris Gopalakrishnan said, “there is a need to ensure safety of employees after the submission of the report.”
”There should be no discontinuity of work as it will not only effect the IT majors but will be a major blow to the ‘Brand Hyderabad’ image,” he said.
Answering the industry’s concerns Rosaiah said: “We can assure you that we will protect the industry to the best of our ability. Government of India will take a decision keeping in mind the interest of the people and industry,” he said.
Among other issues raised were the issue of small scale industries not being able to acquire lands within city limits making infrastructure building a challenge for the industry and the need for modern terminal markets in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, chairman CII Andhra Pradesh, Shakti Sagar requested the chief minister to allot land for building a permanent office for the CII.
In response, the chief minister said, “The city is growing at a very fast pace.
We must be prepared to go to a little distant places to acquire sites as it is becoming difficult within the city limits. As for terminal markets we have already initiated the process and proposals are getting ready for the same.”
On the deteriorating quality of engineering education in the state, the chief minister said ”the government is discouraging starting of new engineering colleges. (But) AICTE is granting permission for them. When these colleges come to us for No Objection Certificate, we tell them that a number of colleges have closed down for various reasons like want of students or want of academic staff. But they say there is demand in cities.’’
“We will have to improve standards of education. It is the job of AICTE. But I think this is a temporary phase,” Rosaiah said.
The chief minister said, “the CII has to focus on building up a constructive interface between industry and academic institutions as unemployment is a major challenge that the society is facing. While we are aware that industrialisation requires land, this forum should seriously deliberate and suggest a good rehabilitation package to the land losers and landless labour who are otherwise dependent on land for their livelihood.”
He pointed out that to facilitate new investments in the state, Best Industrial Investment Promotion policy with concessions in VAT and lower power tariffs have been put in place.
In recognition to the huge natural gas potential in the Krishna Godavari basin, the government is promoting Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) between Vishakapatnam and Kakinada, he said.
–Agencies