CII bats for new industrial policy

CII President Shobana Kamineni sought to emphasise this during her presentation of CII’s ‘Industry Together’ themed development roadmap for the country. Given the growing penetration and relevance of e-commerce players, CII would advocate the need for a new industrial policy and simultaneously, work on the current one, which was crafted in the nineties. It is time for the industry to not be an island and instead engage with all the stakeholders inclusively, she added. 

The Apollo Hospitals Executive Vice Chairman, who took over as the new President of CII in May this year said 80 per cent of the membership comprised SMEs who had been “marginalised” the most. But the cluster approach had done well, especially in Tamil Nadu, Kamineni said. Efforts to strengthen the SMEs through mentoring and providing market linkages would be key thrust areas for CII, she added. 

Chandrajit Banerjee, CII Director-General, chipped in to say that the definition of SMEs had to be broad-based to include people and not use only the in vestment on plant and machinery as the yardstick to determine an SME. 

Kamineni, the first woman to the head the industrial body set up in 1895, met the Chief Minister along with a team of officials on Monday. Following high-level discussions with senior ministers and bureaucrats of the state, CII has been asked to focus on southern district-level development. Targeting specific investments that seeks to leverage the state’s historic strengths in manufacturing, skills and knowledge areas, CII will constitute a committee (on the behest of the state government) with global involvement, that will be aimed to project TN as an important investment destination. This would enable a similar drive as that of the Global Investors’ Meet, which was held in the  city, three years ago. Continued access and dialogue between the CII and those in the government would help in the development of the state, Kamineni said here, emphasising that CII’s presence had a high concentration in this part of the country and the opening of its 10th office in the state underscored the importance. 

Terming GST as a reform which would benefit the industry, Kamineni, said there is an urgent need to address the NPAs or the non-performing assets issue. “Banks need to come back to lend,” she added. 

On the ease of doing business, she said while the CII would do all that it takes to contribute to a friendly business climate, it would champion the cause for self certification and seek no inspection for two years at least for those in business.