Lucknow, Mar 11 (KNN) With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading for now in Uttar Pradesh with 200 seats, let’s have a look at what the MSMEs in the state said about the parties.

Having almost 20% of India’s population and equal parliamentary clout, UP is the important state of India atleast politically.

Industrialization, which is a base for development of a particular region, is considered to be the main agenda for winning or losing an election. But things are not same in Uttar Pradesh.

The state which is set to go on polls tomorrow, seldom witnesses talks about industries from any political parties.

KNN spoke to many industrialists in the state, who on condition of anonymity, spoke about ground reality in the state as far as business is concerned.

A senior entrepreneur from Meerut said, “No party talks about industry here. They have no plans, no actions decided and no intension to do so. They are not realizing that it is industry which will ultimately lead to development of a state.”

He said, “The corruption is so badly inducted in the system that it compels the entrepreneurs to settle a matter at the lowest level. As higher you go, higher the corruption level is.”

Sharing similar view, a Lucknow based entrepreneur revealed ill practices in the tender processes.

It is said that tenders are now being floated / received and decided through e-portal making all process fully transparent and visible while in reality it is nothing but only physedo propaganda only, he said.

Even after submission of the bid in e portal still some papers are to be submitted physically and there is a great chance of manipulation in this, he added.

Economists say that the roads and metros are infrastructure to sustain and develop other economic activities, mainly industry.

Under the much touted Delhi Mumbai Corridor, UP was to develop half a dozen industrial towns.

If properly developed and leveraged on the dedicated freight corridor, these could create enormous employment potentials for the state youth.

But the development of industry needs a facilitating Government, adequate law and order environment and above all ease of doing business.

The real situation in the state on all of the above counts need not be elaborated.

Most of the associations, who were disappointment with the current state of industry in the state, had said there was no lack of promises made by Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party in the state, however, implementation was the only thing lacking.

President of Noida Entrepreneur Association (NEA) Vipin Malhan said, “The Chief Minister himself always emphasized to set up more industries in the state but the Officials didn’t do much on this.”

He added that CM always emphasized having more industries in the state especially in Noida but the Principle Secretary didn’t follow up much.

Chairman of Lucknow Chapter of Indian Industries Association (IIA) Surya Prakash had said the state government had announced to freehold the land under Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) many times in the meetings but the matter is still pending.

“CM made lot of announcements to make the lands freehold under UPSIDC but no physical action has been taken,” said Prakash.

According to him electricity was the major “headache” for the industries during the Samajwadi Party’s tenure.

“It has been tough for the small sector to survive as electricity has been so expensive. 99% of the Steel Furnaces have closed here, though big industries were able to migrate to other states but MSMEs were forced to shut down,” added Surya Prakash.

A local manufacturer Shailabh Agarwal, owner of Bharat Furniture House told KNN that higher tax rate and bribe have been a major problem for the manufacturers in the state.

So with BJP leading for now in the state, it is for us to wait and watch that who wins battleground UP and what the industry has to say now.