Industry blames govt for plight of domestic traders

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 20

The Central Government may have started thinking that since many countries have stopped procuring products, raw material from China and India can make the best out of this opportunity but the local manufacturers here feel otherwise. Countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia have reaped the benefits of the situation and our government missed the opportunity, opine industrialists.

Talking to The Tribune, Rajiv Jain, General Secretary, FICO, said the price of raw material in the country has increased manifolds in recent times.

He said, “The cycle frames/ pipe of a bicycle, which was for Rs 55 per kg, is selling today for Rs 100 per kg. Secondly, local manufacturers are worried over the ever-increasing price of steel and other products, same are being exported from India to other countries. We are unable to get raw material while it is sent to other countries. It is a sorry state of affairs in the country, where industry comes at last in priority of the government. We can and will never be able to compete with China in these circumstances.”

Another manufacturer of garments, Boby Jindal, rued that the prices of yarn had shot up in the past about two months but there is no check by the government.

“Production has been badly hit due to rising prices of yarn and raw material. Countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh are far ahead from us and customers are moving to those countries”, said Jindal.

The local industry feels that higher rates if power, land, raw material, distance from ports, all these factors are enough to make Make in India, a distant dream.