Manufacturing sector faces challenge of creating visionary leaders

28 Dec '06

3 min read

While industry views Special Economic Zones as an option for Indian manufacturing sector to be price-competitive in the international market, there has been a voice of dissent, asking whether it is fair to peasants that their fertile lands are acquired for the SEZs, in effect denying them income generation options for the future.

Mr V K Jairath Secretary, Industries, Government of Maharashtra put forward an alternative to this question in his speech during the valedictory session of the 5th Manufacturing Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry in Mumbai.

“In Maharashtra's case, you have to view this in context of availability of water resources and how much can be harnessed for irrigation. At present we cover less than 20 per cent land, by bringing in technology from abroad, we can at most increase it to 25 or at most, 30 per cent,” he said.

“In the alternative, if on the same land, an SEZ comes up, and in one of the verticals that develop there, the peasant sets up a unit or engages as a service provider to the vertical, wouldn't that translate into better earnings?” he asked. Mr Jairath was elucidating on the fact that Maharashtra has among the highest number of SEZs planned by any state in the country.

Mr Jairath spoke of Maharashtra's new industrial policy, which he described as 'pro-industrial growth' and one of the drivers of economic development.

He mentioned the 'cluster approach' that the state had taken up for industry-specific growth, like the automobile and ancillaries cluster in Pune, garment clusters in Ichalkaranji and Solapur and foundries cluster in Kolhapur.

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