By IANS,
Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, who also holds the industry portfolio, did not devote enough time to the sector, an industry lobby said here Monday.
Shekhar Sardesai, president of the Goa Small Industries Association (GSIA), also accused the state’s industries department of acting in a questionable, non-transparent manner.
“We wonder whether the industries department really exists. The chief minister is holding the portfolio, but he does not find time to devote to the portfolio,” he said at a press conference here.
“The growth of the micro and small industries in Goa is stagnant. We are facing a major resource crunch in form of scarce land and virtually no power,” said Sardesai, whose GSIA represents 450 small scale industry (SSI) entrepreneurs and several hundred other associate members in the state.
He said that Kamat had not taken any steps to spur the state’s industrial growth.
“There is absolute lack of transparency when it comes to allotment of plots by GIDC (Goa Industrial Development Corporation). There are several instances which have been brought to our notice where plots in industrial estates have been issued out of turn,” Sardesai said.
Commenting on the dismal power situation in the state, Sardesai said that Goa needed at least two gas based power plants.
“Currently, there are many industries which have been set up and are awaiting power connections. Similarly there are industries which are waiting for approval of their load demands,” he said.