Industry bodies urge Raj govt to lower cost of doing biz in Budget

Jaipur: As the state govt readies its 2026–27 Budget, industry associations asked for measures to offset rising operating costs and address policy inconsistencies, which they said were hurting industrial growth. They flagged higher power tariffs, opposing recent increases in fixed and regulatory charges by discoms and the withdrawal of the load-factor rebate.Fixed charges increased from Rs 300 to Rs 380 per unit, along with a regulatory charge of Rs 1 per unit and fuel surcharges, which industry bodies warned could raise power costs by up to Rs 15 per unit for certain cogeneration-based industries. They also opposed notices from municipal corporations seeking urban development charges (UDC) in RIICO industrial areas, terming them arbitrary. They pointed out that civic services are already provided by RIICO against annual service charges, and that UDC, withdrawn in 2010 and reiterated in 2013, was being reintroduced through wrong classification of industrial units as commercial establishments. Suresh Agarwal, president of Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry (FORTI), said, "We urge the govt to recognise logistics, warehousing, weighbridges, banking and courier services as core industrial activities. Existing warehousing units should be declared as industrial activity." Raising safety concerns, Agarwal said the BPCL LPG bottling plants located amid dense industrial and residential areas should be relocated to safer locations. "Any accident could affect Vishwakarma Industrial Area and neighbouring colonies, including Vidhyadhar Nagar, Murlipura and Shastri Nagar, potentially causing losses exceeding Rs 100 crore and endangering thousands of lives," he added. Representing manufacturing, MSMEs, textiles, tourism, IT/ITeS and renewable energy sectors, the associations told TOI that tax incentives for MSMEs, easier access to credit, sector-specific capital support, and accelerated investment in logistics and industrial infrastructure are critical to boost industrial activity in the state. They also highlighted skill development partnerships and improved digital governance as key to improving the ease of doing business.