Lack of focus on MSME, power sector irks FJCCI

Ranchi: The Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (

FJCCI

) termed the state Budget of 2021-22 FY as ‘balanced’ but said it was disappointed with the government’s silence on reviving industries and the MSME sector.

FJCCI had met chief minister Hemant Soren and state finance minister Rameshwar Oraon before the commencement of the Budget session and had demanded a revival pack of 600 ailing MSME units, commercialisation of power supply in Jharkhand and measures to strengthen the single window clearance system of the state industries department. However, FJCCI’s key demands were overlooked in the budget document, which was tabled in Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday.

“We were hoping that there will be financial relief for MSMEs, which are the backbone of the state’s economy. We were also hoping that the government will hand over the power supply in Jharkhand to private players in order to end the problem of power cuts once and for all. Neither of the two happened, which is a matter of concern,” FJCCI president Pravin Jain Chabra said.

Chabra, however, praised the budgetary announcement of establishing an electronic manufacturing cluster in Adityapur and setting up a mining corridor.

Former FJCCI president and city-based businessman Deepak Kumar Maroo said, “Only 20% of the textile units across Jharkhand are functional currently, mainly due to the flaws in policy drafted by the previous government. The fraternity had hoped for reforms in policies in the sector, but that was missing.”

The trade body in a statement said, “The announcements made in the previous budget (of 2020-21 FY) were not completed. There was no roadmap on how the pending announcements will be fructified.”

FJCCI however, welcomed the announcements to bolster the tourism sector and commissioning home-stay facilities in popular tourist destinations.