Power shortage, flawed policy hitting SSIs in Punjab

Hoshiarpur, Aug 1 (UNI) Owners of the small scale industrial units of Punjab have cautioned that the ''deteriorating power supply and ineffective industrial policy'' of the state government was leading to closure of their units here and encouraging exodus to neighbouring states.

A spokesman of the SSI owners, Kehar Singh, said here today that unscheduled and intermittent regular power cuts had severely affected the small scale industries in state.

Punjab government had not made serious attempts to make alternative arrangements to save the dying industry which was the backbone of the state economy, Mr Singh said.

Due to the deteriorating situation, majority of the owners had shifted their units to adjoining states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir where there was no shortage of power.

Moreover, governments of these states were giving lots of other incentives to the industrialists for investing in their states.

He urged state Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to announce similar packages for the small scale industrialists of Punjab like other states to retain them in the state.

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