‘Master Plan will be undoing of Ludhiana’s MSME sector’

Ludhiana: The city’s micro and small scale factory owners who have units in mix land use (MLU) areas are apprehensive about the “Master Plan 2023,” under which they will not be able to run their units in the areas where they are presently situated. On Wednesday, the businessmen met cabinet minister Aman Arora and apprised him about the problem. They also demanded that the master plan be deferred.
Gurmeet Singh Kular, president, Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations (FICO) said, “Master Plan 2023 means certain death for micro and small industrial units located in MLU areas like Dashmesh Nagar, Shimlapuri, Janta Nagar, Shivpuri and Madhopuri, as these have been declared residential in the masterplan. The deadline for shifting industrial units from MLU areas has been set to September 18, 2023, which means thousands of units have got only 12 months to make arrangements to wind up their operations and start new units in designated industrial areas, which is out of the question.” Kular added that more than 75% of the bicycle and sewing machine industry of the country is based in Ludhiana, out of which 90% operates in MLU areas.
Inderjit Singh Navyug, former president, United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA) said that industrialists had taken up the issue with authorities seven years ago and asked them to change the status of several areas where factories outnumbered residential properties. He claimed that the committee headed by then mayor did not do anything. He requested chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to intervene.