IMPHAL, June 16: The All Manipur Entrepreneurs’ Association (AMEA) is set to submit a report explaining the main issues confronting the development of an industrial sector in the state in a month’s time to the state government, said Sougaijam Rishikanta, president, AMEA during a press conference at Hotel Imphal conference hall called by AMEA today.
He said that the association will delve into the factors which are obstructing growth of the sector in the state and submit it to the government.
The government should look into the factors obstructing industrial sector growth in the state at the earliest and help the entrepreneurs reduce some of the unemployment problem faced by the state’s youth, he said.
He continued that the state finance corporation Manipur Industrial Corporation (MANIDCO) has been lying defunct for over two decades now and had stopped financing entrepreneurs since 1991 which has resulted in the degradation of industrial development in the state and has also acted as a discouragement for the entrepreneurs.
He further said that MANIDCO has been defunct since the state government had failed to pay off a due amount of Rs 5 crores to SIDBI and another Rs 2.95 crores to IDBI.
Due to the non-payment of the dues since such a long time back, SIDBI and IDBI have stopped financing MANIDCO, he claimed.
Sougaijam Rishikanta further appealed the state government to clear the dues, so that SIDBI and IDBI may start releasing funds to MANIDCO and the entrepreneurs will developed in the state.
The revival of MANIDCO is the need of the hour for the development of industries and to boost the state economy, he concluded.
Manipur is a natural and human resource rich state which could be utilized in a positive way and boost up the state’s economy, he said before continuing that Manipur has remained industrially backward due to negligence in the sector over the last six months.
The backwardness of the industrial sector in the state is a matter of great discouragements as only one percent of the Gross Domestic Product of the state is accounted for by the contribution of registered industrial units, he said.
Highlighting some other problems, hindering the growth of industrial sector in the state, he said, its growth has been hampered by several factors including lack of infrastructure and the land locked geographical feature of the state among other things.
The stagnation in the industrial sector in the state has affected the whole development scenario in the state, impeding income generation, increase in unemployment and inability to open up new avenues for entrepreneurs, Sougaijam Rishikanta further elaborated.
He further said the state government should take stringent plans to develop new entrepreneurs by strengthening all its wings including its finance corporation and infrastructure development agencies.
Lack of initiative from the state government including lack of loan provision since a long time has also adversely affected the entrepreneurs, he said.