Efforts on to make UT a manufacturing hub.

The Puducherry government has been making all efforts to regain the lost ground in the manufacturing sector and make Puducherry a manufacturing and knowledge hub, Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government (Industries and Commerce) T.M. Balakrishnan said recently.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said that Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had taken steps to improve the situation and revive Puducherry as a manufacturing and knowledge hub. The government announced a number of initiatives for the Information Technology sector and some of them have been incorporated in the Industrial policy. The government hoped to get another Rs. 100 crore from the Central government which would support Rs. 1,100 crore of businesses in the MSME sector, he said.

U. Niranjan, Commissioner, Central Excise and Service Tax Commissionerate, said the growth in Central Excise revenue was negligible across the country last year. However, the Union Territory had witnessed a healthy growth of 20 per cent. However, the revenue up to August this year had dropped from Rs. 240 crore to Rs. 156 crore.

During the session, industrialists also discussed the measures required to provide an impetus to industrialisation in Puducherry and how it could be made an integral component of the Make in India campaign.


THE HINDU