A world of double standards
VIRTUALLY routed in the 1984 parliamentarry electionsthe BharatiyaJanata Party (Bip) made a remarkable comeback in the 1989 and1991polls. The party also came topower in four states in the
Search Results
-
-
Just deportation?
SC issues notice to Tripura government for re starting relocation of tribals against orders
-
Stir over project site
Steel plant plan opposed by villagers facing ouster
-
Full-scale review of poverty
What is poverty? The Planning Commission is set to undertake an exercise to find a quantifiable answer to the question. It has proposed to the Union government to set up an expert group to redefine poverty and, consequently, reassess the percentage of Ind
-
TN chalks out new MSME policy
Envisages generation of one million direct and indirect opportunities The plethora of subsidies and incentives announced in the new exclusive policy for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector by the Tamil Nadu government will create a large employment potential. New opportunities will be thrown open for artisans, ITI and diploma holders in the state to come and set up their own units, according to small industry associations. Tamil Nadu has unveiled a separate policy for the MSME sector with a vision to enhance the competitiveness of the sector and aim for a sustained annual growth rate of over 10 per cent for MSMEs. The new MSME policy, apart from encouraging agro-based industries, envisages generation of one million direct and indirect employment opportunities during the 11th Five Year Plan. The new MSME policy pampers tiny manufacturing units with capital subsidy on plant and machinery, low-tension power tariff subsidy, subsidy on assessed VAT and stamp duty exemption. Over and above this, the additional subsidies for units set up by women entrepreneurs, physically disabled persons and trans-gender entrepreneurs will be highly rewarding and encouraging, says S Srinivasan, president, Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers' Association. New entrepreneurs and the small scale sector could reap the benefits of the current policy and become a regular feeder sector for the vibrant medium and large-scale sector, especially active in the automobile and engineering sectors in the state, he adds. K Gopalakrishnan, honourary general secretary of Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association, says the policy will give fillip to the MSME eco-system in the state. The subsidy schemes will help small industry upgrade technology and machinery, thereby enhancing their competitiveness. The purpose of announcing a separate policy for the MSME sector is to make it co-exist with large industries as well as accelerate industrial growth and generate large-scale job opportunities, especially in the rural and backward areas, says P Selvam, secretary, small industry, government of Tamil Nadu. "With this new policy, we expect MSME sector contribution to the total exports from Tamil Nadu to go up substantially from the present 35 per cent,' he adds. Growing industrial demand has driven expansion by several units in the industrial estates, which are considered the growth engines of small and medium enterprises in and around Chennai. However, the units point out that land is not readily available for these units and expansion to other areas will prove to be unviable. The MSME policy prescribes, among other incentives and subsidies, reservation of 20 per cent of the land in all SIPCOT (Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation) industrial estates for MSMEs and upto 30 per cent for micro industries within SIDCO estates. This initiative is expected to help the small industry in a big way. Small industry bodies have for long pointed out that skyrocketing land prices caused by rampant SEZ promotion is affecting small industry growth. The policy also talks of enacting an Industrial Single Window Clearance Act for single window committees at the state and district levels and authority for setting time periods for approvals. The state government also plans to develop 22 new industrial estates in several parts of the state. Presently, there are about 78 industrial estates in Tamil Nadu. Locations for the new industrial estates have been identified and the government has also acquired lands for the these new estates. Lauding the state government for announcing a policy for revival of sick MSMEs, Srinivasan urges the government to undertake a detailed study on the causes of sickness. He points out that a primary cause for sickness is non-payment of supplier bills by medium and large industries; besides, lack of financial support, non-availability of technology, product process obsolescence, interrupted power supply and labour issues. The MSME sector in Tamil Nadu accounts for over 95 per cent of all industrial units, about 40 per cent of the output in the manufacturing sector and 35 per cent of exports. There were about 5,30,000 registered micro and small scale units as on March, 2007, providing employment to over 37 lakh people with a total investment of around Rs 16,817 crore. There is also a substantial unregistered sector of over 600,000 units which serves as a nursery for entrepreneurial talent, according to the MSME policy statement.
-
Copenhagen: excluding people and voices for an unfair deal
<p>The Copenhagen conference will definitely go down as the worst meeting in global climate negotiations. There is a complete mess here: lines of people standing outside the Bella Centre, where the conference is taking place, wanting to get in. Inside the meeting has broken down for the umpteenth time because industrialized countries refuse to commit to cutting emissions.
-
India's national solar mission: getting it right
<p>India launched its National Solar Mission last year. The aim is ambitious – to build capacity of 22,000 mw by 2022. Clearly this is critical: if we can upscale our solar energy generation, we also build the ‘learning’ needed for the world – prices will drop, technology will grow, new answers will be found. But the question is how is this programme working?
-
Welspun Energy Awarded 32 MW Solar Project, Helps Punjab Move towards Zero Emission Energy
<ul> <li> Annually IPP will supply 56 million units of clean & efficient energy for next 25 years</li><br> <li> 53261 tones of carbon emissions will be mitigated by Welspun Energy’s
-
Editor's pick
<table style="width: 886px;"> <tbody bgcolor="#F3F6FA"> <tr> <td style="width: 544px;"> <p><br /> <img src="http://re.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/re/news-ticker/images/eds.jpg"
-
Under international censure
The Singrauli Super Thermal Power Station has managed to secure a World Bank loan of $400 million, but the allegations of environmental degradation levelled against it are mounting
-
A system in shambles
Weak, corrupt and ineffective implementing institutions make compliance and enforcement of environmental laws abysmally poor in India. Can economic instruments turn the polluting industry green?
-
The small big polluter
Small-scale industries: Where regulations are meaningless and pollution control an unaffordable luxury. Can they leapfrog to cost-effective technologies and find shelter in policies that provide reservation in pollution-free sectors?<p> <font face=arial
-
POSCO: One More Case of Forest Land Grab
<div> <div class="viewer">On June 12th, <a target="_blank" title="//articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-12/india/29649545_1_land-acquisition-forest-clearance-environmental-clearance" href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-12/india/29649545_1_land-acquisition-forest-clearance-environmental-clearance" class="externalLink">Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh made national
-
Keep forests...shall feed
The Northern model of conserving tropical forests by completely eleminating humans from them will spell ecological disaster, and may aimed more at protecting the agricultural export markets of developed countries than enhancing global biodiversity
-
Green justice: up in smoke?
<p>Aided by officialdom and politicos, polluting industries seem well cushioned against thunderous court orders</p>
-
The mystery of the aquadeaths
One of the most lucrative pisciculture activities today, shrimp cultivation in India was recently given a devastating body blow by a mysterious lethal virus. Author tracks the beast
-
PUNJAB: Ignorance is bliss
The situation is, if anything, worse in the north Indian states like Punjab, where many industrialists acknowledge they are not even aware of the possibility of their products being toxic or of solid
-
Clear concepts, unclear courses
THE National Front (NF)the opposition alliance (between the JanataDal (it)) and some regional parties)led by V P Singhcame to power atthe Centre in 1989. The JD'S environmental concernsone of themost
-
Panchayats, European style
WHAT CAN you do, as a citizen of India, if someone decides to set up a power plant or a polluting factory in your neighbourhood? Probably precious little. You could appeal to the local pollution
-
A shredded project
After the proposed Nylon 6,6 plant in Goa was discussed threadbare and opposed by many, the Greens succeeded in having the project shifted out