Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi
Neighboring Maharashtra and Goa are trying to fish in the troubled industrial waters of Karnataka, where industry is protesting against a steep hike in power tariffs that is crippling small and medium scale industries.
Maharashtra and Goa administrations have started sending messages to industrialists in border areas to entice units to set up shop across the border with the offer of cheap power and other benefits.
“Maharashtra is just 13 km away from where I sit in Belagavi, but it is not easy to relocate an industry like this. Besides, I am too much of a Belagavi resident to even think of moving across the border,” Hemendra Porwal, president of the Belagavi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, confirms that some fellow entrepreneurs are getting the idea.
“But such thinkers are always there, and Maharashtra and Goa have been inviting us (industrialists from here) for many years,” he said. The renewed invitation is nothing but natural competitive activity among the states, as each state would want industry and jobs to be created there.
“Not much to be said about the latest initiatives from across the border, but if things remain hostile and Belgaum doesn’t get infrastructure and development, surely some may do it again,” the BCCI official said. Look at Kolhapur and the kind of facilities and infrastructure it has for industries and feel that the Karnataka government should give due importance to the development of infrastructure in all parts of the state,” Porwal said. .
Economists certainly complain about the regional imbalance in the state’s economic development and say that the sooner this issue is addressed, the better.
If forced to, businessmen and entrepreneurs will definitely look for other options.
The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FKCCI, which is not participating in the bandh, wants the government to give time to sort out the mess. FKCCI’s B Vijay Kumar said, “I don’t think any industry will move out of the state, and if someone has made such statements, they may be statements made on impulse at the most.”
And anyway, the ones from Karnataka also have units in Hosur in Tamil Nadu and across the border towards Maharashtra.
On the power tariff situation, industry bodies in the state are lobbying with the state government and protesting on the streets, demanding rollback of the huge hike which is making it difficult for industries to run in the state.
There is a perception among a section of industrialists that the hike in power tariffs was resorted to to raise funds to finance the subsidy for providing free power to farmers and households.
Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah has already ruled out seeking any revision in power tariffs.
“The government is aware of the plight of the industry and we will try to win their confidence,” the chief minister said on Sunday.
Unfazed by this, industry bodies called for a shutdown yesterday and it was observed in several parts of the state including North Karnataka, where people also took out marches.
The bandh was called by the Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chambers from various sectors also participated in it. As per reports from the field, industrial units in Hubli and Dharwad wore a deserted look. Protesters in Hubballi said the steep hike would make it difficult for industries to run.