BENGALURU: Representatives of the trade bodies from Karnataka met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday ahead of his state budget presentation and presented a list of demands for the consideration of the state government. Some of their major demands included regulation on power tariffs as well as ensuring a steady power supply besides requests to develop the north Karnataka in order to encourage the shifting of industries out of Bengaluru.
In their representation, the Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA), asked for the creation of a separate directorate dealing with small scale industries as well as a steady power supply to industries. “We urge that the government initiate measures to insulate industry by incentivizing captive generation, use of renewable energy and import of power.
The power tariff for small and medium enterprises (SME) may be suitably reduced,” the petition submitted by KASSIA said. The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) also objected to the hike in power tariff which has been proposed by electricity supply companies recently.
Both bodies also raised the issue of minimum wages and how the SME sector, which works on thin profit margins, would be impacted adversely by the revision of minimum wages by the Labour Department. “The combined effect of a power tariff hike and hike in minimum wages would adversely affect industrial activity and the effects are more pronounced in MSME,” the FKCCI said.