Newly formed State Government in Punjab (India) has decided to prepare a new textile policy with special focus on aligning it with Central Government’s textile policy. Punjab Government is taking suggestions from the industry and various meetings have also been conducted in this regard. One such meeting was held in Ludhiana also in which Mahesh Khanna, GM, DIC, Ludhiana discussed the requirements with leading textile players of the city. Ajit Lakra, President of the Ludhiana Knitters Association, Tarun Jain Bawa, President of Federation of Textile Association of Ludhiana, DL Sharma, MD, Vardhman Group and many other textile players were also present in the meeting. Apparel Resources interacted with the participants. Given below are the 10 main demands of the industry:
1. State Government Should Have Corpus: Industry insisted that State Government should have a corpus for the textile industry like the Government of India so that the manufacturers can take the maximum advantage.
2. Rework on Pollution Norms: It was highlighted that some of the pollution laws of State Government are more stringent compared to international level. Similarly, a symmetry in State and Central Government’s pollution laws is an urgent requirement.
3. Reform Labour Laws: Punjab’s textile and garment industry is mainly dependent on migratory workers and participants strongly recommend reformation of labour laws. Any unit which is able to construct hostels for labour, should be given outright subsidy, they demanded.
4. Incentives for Modernization: Still a major chunk of Punjab’s textile industry need to go for automation; thus incentives for modernization/up-gradation is the need of the hour.
5. Skill Development: Facing severe shortage of skilled labour, the industry asked for increase in funding and focus on skill development.
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6. New Focal Point: The city needs more land for new factories, making it a new focal point.
Fire Station in Every Industrial Pocket: In summer, fire incidents in factories go up, the industry therefore requested for fire station in every industrial pocket. Industry players are ready to offer land for fire stations so that they do not have to depend on fire tenders of nearby districts in case of an emergency.
8. R&D Centre: As individual R&D centres need lots of resources, industry demanded for a common R&D centre where collective efforts can be done for the support of industry.
9. Exhibition Centre: Ludhiana is the biggest industrial city of Punjab where apart from textile, manufacturing of bicycles and tractor’s part also take place on large scale. Despite that there is no world-class exhibition centre in the city where buyer-seller meets (BSMs), and industrial events can be organized. Industry was very much keen about this long pending demand.
10. Various Issues: Elimination of corruption, relaxation in taxes, more and regular communication between Government and industry, and improvement of basic infrastructure facilities were also underlined by the industry.
