The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee on Friday criticised the State government for the sharp fall in the number of small and medium industries over the past year.
The policy note of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, tabled in the Assembly on Thursday, revealed that 49,329 units had wound up in the State over the past year.
In a statement, TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar said poor industrial climate was a result of the failure of the State government. Alleging that those in power were corrupt, he said they were only interested in furthering their interests instead of looking after the welfare of the people.
Mr. Thirunavukkarasar said the policy note was proof that the Goods and Services Tax had hit the industry hard. He said the numbers were proof that the Global Investors’ Meet of 2015 had failed to achieve its targets.
Many industrial units had moved out of the State due to the poor policies of the government, he added.
PMK founder S. Ramadoss said the ‘benami’ State government was responsible for the shutting down of close to 50,000 small industries in Tamil Nadu last year alone.
“In the Assembly on Thursday, a document was presented on MSMEs in which it was mentioned that the number of industries had reduced from 2,67,310 units in 2016-17 to 2,17,981 units in 2017-18. In one year, 49,329 small industries have been shut down, resulting in the loss of jobs for 5,19,075 people. This is not a small setback for the State,” said Mr. Ramadoss.
“Close to ₹11,000 crore in investments have gone out of small industries. Corruption and high-handedness of those in control of the State government are the reason why this has happened,” he said. He said the “illegal commission” sought by the State government from the industries who wanted to do business in Tamil Nadu was the main reason why industries were pulling out of the State.