Bittu raises issue of medium and small units in Lok Sabha
Thursday, 17/07/2014
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LUDHIANA: After raising the issue of steel industries in Parliament, Congress member Parliament from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu, on Wednesday, raised the issue of outdated machinery and technology being used by the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh.
Demanding reduction of import duty on second-hand machinery to help small units upgrade their machinery and technolog y, Bittu said the current import duty on such machinery was between 40%60% which was hampering modernisation and upgrading of the enterprises in terms of their production capacity.
“They contribute nearly 8 % to the country’s GDP, 45 % of the manufacturing output, 40% of the exports and also provide the largest share of employment opportunities after agriculture in the county” said Bittu in Lok Sabha.
City industrialists had been raising many such demands for a long time and hence, had approached Bittu to help them in resolving their issues.
