State Planning Board Deputy Chairman C. Kutumba Rao has attributed the poor industrial growth to growing dependence on sops offered by governments.
Entrepreneurs in the State have pinned their hopes on special category status and concessions for backward regions, he said. “Will they not invest if the concessions don’t come?” Mr. Rao asked and insisted that companies should instead be competitive, understand customers better and give value for their money.
Addressing a seminar on Profit Mantras for Businesses jointly organised by the Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation (ACCIF) and the Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) here on Wednesday, Mr. Rao said companies in the undivided State had achieved tremendous progress, and that they had to continue to rely on their own strengths in making up for the deficiencies to become profitable entities. They could not be over-dependent on provisions like special category status and the attendant sops for which hectic lobbying was on, he added.
Industries should give due importance to protecting their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to which most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) gave little significance.
They could no longer be complacent on the IPR front, as competition is intensifying with each passing day, Mr. Rao reminded.
He added that the services sector in India grew at the cost of manufacturing, and that successive governments had neglected the potential that the manufacturing sector possessed.
“Fortunately, the ‘Make in India’ campaign opened up a whole new world of opportunities for the private sector. SMEs should gain from the impetus that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given to the manufacturing sector at a time when global attention was riveted on the country owing to its talented workforce and the demographic advantage it enjoyed compared to other robust economies.
FISME joint secretary (International Trade) Mukesh Kalra, The Innovation Workgroup CEO David Wittenberg, Axis Asset Management Company senior vice-president Samant Sikka and Mandeep Singh and Ramanjaneyulu of Hewlett Packard also spoke.
