Small scale industries protest de-reservation

May 27, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:42 am IST - MADURAI:

Members of the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association staging a demonstration in the city on Tuesday.— Photo: S. James

Members of the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association staging a demonstration in the city on Tuesday.— Photo: S. James

Manufacturers and members of various micro, small and medium enterprises from the southern districts undertook a peaceful protest against the de-reservation of a slew of products which were earlier meant only for small-scale industries (SSI) in the country.

To cost losses

“The de-reservation of these products will cost losses to the tune of many crores for the SSI units in the southern districts in particular, where many of them are engaged in manufacturing operations,” said V.S. Manimaran, president of Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA).

According to a government order which was passed on April 10, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had announced the de-reservation of 20 products which were previously reserved for manufacturing only by the Micro and Small Enterprises Sector (MSE).

The products include agarbattis, pickles, chutneys, steel furniture, notebooks and matchsticks.

“Take back

order”

Manufacturers from Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari and Theni districts participated in the protest and urged the Centre to take back the order.

“There are more than five lakh micro and small enterprises all over the country and about 45,000 in Tamil Nadu alone. This will greatly affect the livelihood of the people involved if bigger industries enter the manufacturing of these products due to the competition.

The products of good quality available at a lower cost which are manufactured by the MSEs will have to face stiff competition from brands,” Mr. Manimaran said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.