The locals and a substantial diaspora is happy to spend and happier to display. Someone in a village spent Rs 50 lakh in setting up a water tank over his house that has been built in the shape of a magnificent airplane. A lot of this spending is fuelled by the thriving local industry.
With the budget round the corner, this industry has a lot of expectations from the state government. One of them is inclusion of Jalandhar is the freight corridor, which, as of now, concludes at Ludhiana. “If we have to transport our goods in trucks to Ludhiana, we are not going to benefit much,” said a businessman.
Vimal Jain, chairman-cum-managing director of Atam Valves Private Limited, and the founder president of All Indian Valves and Cocks Manufactures’ Association, complained the absence of a focal point or industrial area. “Infrastructure is woeful. Power supply is irregular and there is no clear-cut tax policy. Disparity on freight rates has to be removed and single-window clearance for businesses should be introduced,” he says.
The most famous industrial cluster in the city is that of sports good. This group appreciates the recent reduction in import duty on machinery and exemption on raw material used for sports goods, but accuses the state government of inaction. “These reliefs are from the Centre. The Akali-BJP combine had made 30 promises to us, but none of them has been fulfilled yet,” says Vijay Dheer, convener of Khel Udyog Sangh.
Another sports manufacturer, Ajay Mahajan, says, “The government has to keep in mind that we are getting competition at international levels. If we have to stand up to sports goods from China, exporters need to be promoted and given all assistance.”
Gursharan Singh, president of Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders’ Association, says that while allowing the import of steel scrap would help the hand tools, hardware and auto parts manufacturers here, there are hardly any strong steps to help the small and medium enterprises, who are struggling for their survival due to huge tax imposed on them. “Ban on export of steel could have been a much more effective step for the industry involved in production for domestic use as well as export. We expect a freight equalisation policy and some package for the small industry.”