By IANS
Ahmedabad : The union government’s decision last week to retain only 35 items on the exclusive list reserved for the small-scale industry (SSI) seems to have gone down well with the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Gujarat.
The government Feb 7 excluded 79 items from the reserved list with a view to increasing the sector’s competitiveness and facilitate adequate credit flow.
According to industry sources, a number of Gujarat’s SME units such as food and allied items, plastics, agro-processing, wood and wood products, organic chemicals, other chemicals and chemical products and ceramics industries are among the 35 items still in the reserved category.
The government’s move is expected to give these small-scale units protection against being overrun by large units which will now be able to enter these sectors.
Gujarat has witnessed impressive industrial development in the SME sector. There were only 2169 SSIs in the state in 1961 at the time of its formation. The number has increased continuously and reached to 312,000 by September 2006, according to the state’s industry and mines department.
The SME sector still continues its strong showing in the state. Chemical manufacturing units, located in and around Ahmedabad and Vadodara, are now extending up to Vapi further south. Engineering units, found in Vadodara and Rajkot, are now going up to Jamnagar. Morbi in the Saurashtra region is the hub of ceramic tiles, which are collectively worth Rs.1 billion ($25 million).
Wood product manufacture is located in Kutch district, which is the premier industry there. There are number of drug units in the small-scale sector as well.
Mehsana in North Gujarat, Kheda (Anand) and Bharuch in central Gujarat and Bhavnagar in Saurashtra region are the other major SME hubs in the state.
The centre de-reserved 108 industries in 2005, 180 in 2006, and 212 in 2007.