SMEs cry foul over ‘Haritha Haram’ stipulations

“Tender process for the government’s flagship programme is flawed and detrimental to small industries”. Another requirement is that industries that have BIS standards only will be eligible to participate in the tender process.

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Telangana have expressed reservations over the way authorities were going about implementing the State government’s flagship programme ‘Telanganaku Haritha Haram’. Announced recently by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, ‘Haritha Haram’ envisages planting 230 crore saplings in Telangana in the next three years.

While the project is yet to take off, industry bodies have pointed out that the procurement process of infrastructure to implement this project is flawed and does not provide enough opportunities to SMEs from Telangana. In fact, Telangana Industries Federation (TIF) has recently met top officials in Forest and Industries departments, expressing reservations about its implementation.

The major bone of contention is the apparent tough stipulations authorities have introduced while calling for tenders related to the project. To complete the massive plantation exercise, authorities need to set up nurseries for saplings. The nurseries, in turn, need infrastructure like water pipelines, water tanks, polythene covers etc, which are supplied by the SMEs.

“Strangely, authorities have stipulated that only industries with a turnover of Rs. 1 crore are eligible to participate in the tender process. This is exclusionary and will impact small industries. Moreover, since a decade, these SMEs were supplying similar infrastructure to the forest department. At one stroke, these SMEs have become ineligible,” says K. Sudhir Reddy, president, TIF.

BIS standards

Another requirement is that industries that have BIS standards only will be eligible to participate in the tender process. “The entire SME sector of the State will be isolated and become ineligible if this is implemented because nobody has applied for BIS standards. They can simply ask for performance guarantee of the products, as was the case earlier. Such rules will only encourage industries from other States,” says Mr. Sudhir Reddy.

Industry representatives point out that there are over 100 SMEs in the 10 districts of Telangana that stand to get hit from such tough specifications.