The State Government should take initiatives for the formation of separate industrial estates for micro industries as it does for bigger units, the Coimbatore district unit of the Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) has said.
It also wants the State Government to provide interest-free advance of a minimum of Rs 1 lakh to the units registered with the District Industries Centre to meet the festival expenses.
The district committee of TACT, which met under its President J. James, pointed out that the State Government had encouraged the formation of industrial estates for micro and tiny units in the private sector by offering concessions. But because of the skyrocketing land cost in industrialised districts like Coimbatore, it has virtually become impossible to form such estates by the micro unit owners.
Just as SIPCOT and SIDCO took the initiative of forming industrial estates for bigger industries by acquiring land, the State Government should take steps to acquire land and form industrial estates for the micro units.
These lands should have easy access to roads and should be closer to city centres and the entrepreneurs should be offered easy repayment facility.
The meeting also drew the attention of the Government to various difficulties faced by the entrepreneurs of small and micro units because of prolonged recession, flight of orders to other States, pressure from banks for loan repayment etc.