Industry proactive in private sector reservation: Minister

Hyderabad, Apr 22 (UNI) Stating that captains of industry had come forward to proactively provide more jobs for SCs and OBCs, Union Minister of State for Industries Ashwinikumar today said the Centre had enhanced allocation for technology upgradation in industrial clusters from Rs 952 crore to Rs 1,150 crore.

A Confederation of Indian Industry delegation promised him to provide jobs for the weaker sections, pending legislation, even while taking merit into account, he told reporters here.

The Centre would bear 70 per cent of the cost of technological upgradation in industrial clusters and the balance would be borne by industrial units concerned by creating Special Purpose Vehicles.

The response from the southern states to avail Central support was very encouraging when compared to other regions.

The Centre was committed to step up horizontal and vertical growth of manufacturing sector from nine per cent to 12 per cent by 2011 to take the sector's share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP from 17 per cent to 25 per cent to create more jobs.

The Rs 1,50,000 crore Bharat Nirman programme dovetailed with National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme would result in job creation on a large scale, he added.

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