For the industries in Coimbatore, there are some common demands that they want the elected representatives to address and some others that are industry-specific issues. Even if the political parties do not include these in their election manifestos, they need to address the problems if elected to power, say industry representatives here.
The Government should improve the competitiveness of the industries compared to those in other States, they say.
Textiles
For the textile industry here, one of the main demands is reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on yarn.
Tamil Nadu has the largest number of spinning mills in the country and the industry has been asking for reduction of VAT to two per cent, on a par with Central Sales Tax. “Mills from Andhra Pradesh sell yarn in Tamil Nadu at a lower cost compared to the mills here,” says a textile mill owner. It is because they pay two per cent CST but the mills in Tamil Nadu pay five per cent VAT. If the Central Government introduces GST this issue would be addressed. Otherwise the State Government should reduce VAT to sustain the entire textile value chain.
Industry sources say that Tamil Nadu, despite its strength in textiles, did not announce a textile policy while States such as Maharashtra did so, offering incentives to the industry.
Tamil Nadu should support development of textile processing and make project implementation easier, says the industry. Investments to the tune of Rs. 2,000 crore were committed in the textile sector at the Global Investors’ Meet held in Chennai last year. Majority of this is expected to be in textile processing.
Since the industry attracts workers from other districts and States, the Government should develop labour quarters and women’s hostels, especially in Tirupur. Nearly 25 per cent of the wages of a knitwear worker goes towards house rent.
Engineering
The need to expedite expansion of Coimbatore airport is a common demand from all the industrial associations. For the pumpset units, the stipulation that the input VAT credit should be reversed for wastage is hitting the manufacturers. Every manufacturing unit has waste generated at the end of the production process. In other States, this is accepted and the units do not have to reverse the VAT credit. But, for pumpset units in Tamil Nadu, it is not so. “In other States, the loss is permitted,” say industry sources.
MSMEs
For the micro and cottage enterprises, there is hope that the next Government will address their grievances. The cost of power has doubled in the last five years, though there is no power cut now. The financial and infrastructure requirements of these units are different from the other industries. Though the Government announced financial support, not many units are able to benefit. The Government should understand the functioning of the micro units and bring out schemes that the units will be able to benefit from, says a micro unit owner.
The elected representatives should interact with the micro entrepreneurs regularly and address their grievances, says another unit owner.
