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SEPTEMBER - 2019

                              Reviewing the After-effects of Economic
                                              Slowdown in Peenya

                                                                 authorities. If one of the issues is slackness in
                                                                 the  market,  another  is  government  policy
                                                                 which  needs  to  address  the  problems  and
                                                                 concerns on the ground. Overall, orders are
                                                                 hit  by  around  40-50  per  cent,  and  many
                                                                 industries are virtually facing closure.

                                                                 The need of the hour is for the Government –
            Srinivas Asranna                                     both at the State as well as at the Centre – is to
                                                                 handhold the micro and small scale industrial
            Stay  calm.  Don't  get  blown  off  by  the         sector at this critical juncture and empower
            slowdown. The darkest hour is before dawn.
            Peenya Industrial Area can yet, return with a        them  to  face  the  crisis  by  a  targeted  and
            bang: President, PIA                                 increased  focus  on  improving  industrial
                                                                 infrastructure  in  particular.  At  the  ground
            By nature, I am an eternal optimist, but I have      level,  there  has  to  be  a  concerted  effort  to
            to  confess  that  the  down-in-the-doldrums         improve  the  ease  of  doing  business,  relax
            feelings of my various entrepreneur-friends in       inspection  by  ESI/PF  authorities,  simplify
            Peenya, who declare that “there has never been       guidelines related to renewal of factory license,
            a more crazy experience in our industrial life”,     and  further  relax  NPA  norms,  among  other
            has left me shaken and stirred. The economic         such initiatives. In this context, timing is the
            slowdown in Peenya with special reference to         key for many industry experts aver that there
            the auto sector, is virtually in-your-face, and      is little hope of a turnaround at least for the
            there is no way one can brush it off or ignore it.   next four to six months.

            Many  experts  are  of  the  view  that  the         Here's  an  anecdotal  evidence  of  the  adverse
            automobile sector slowdown is mostly a by-           impact  felt  in  Peenya.  Now  many  of  the
            product of the shift from Bharat Stage (BS) 4        industries source their products from within
            emission standards to BS 6 that is mandated          the industrial complex itself. One such player
            by the Central Government from April 2020.           who  is  into  wholesale  and  retail  of  critical
                                                                 parts  for  big  machinery  used  in  Peenya
            An accompanying paranoia was the move to
            have electric vehicles (EV) as the norm for two-     industries  has  seen  his  business  fall  by
            wheelers in five years. Of course we all accept      around 25 per cent, since July. Because of this
            and realize that electric vehicles (EVs) are the     crisis,  he  is  not  able  to  supply  materials  to
            way forward, but you need infrastructure for         industries.  The  company  supplies  the  main
            it. A better way would have been to push the BS      parts for machines without which they will not
            6 vehicles from 2025, offering it as a premium       work  and  nobody  is  coming  forward  to
            product along with EVs. What was the hurry to        purchase them.
            bring in BS 6 next year, barely two years after
            BS 4, is a legitimate question that defines the      Taking all factors into considerations, I would
            quandary faced by people in the auto sector.         still be true to my optimistic nature and say
                                                                 that all is not lost yet. It is a fact that the crisis
            Review findings by PIA                               is widely prevalent in Peenya, but the situation
                                                                 is  not  that  bad  as  is  being  portrayed
            A preliminary assessment by Team PIA shows           everywhere. Only some sectors and not all, are
            that overall business in Peenya itself is down       affected and if with the right kind of timely,
            by about 40 per cent on an average.                  adequate  and  hassle-free  support  from  the
                                                                 Government both at the Centre as well as the
            The  review  also  revealed  that  Peenya  has       State, Peenya can yet regain its glory in style –
            mainly micro and small industries, which are         to  the  sound  of  humming  machines  in  fast-
            labour-intensive. We at PIA sent requests to the     paced  factory  shop-floors.  We  are  not  going
            State  and  Central  governments.  But  for          down – and we will not rest till we ace this
            reasons  unknown  to  us,  whatever  data  we        game.
            have  given  is  not  taken  seriously  by

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