Ludhiana, 9 Dec (KNN) A press conference on industrial issues of Punjab was held at Hotel Reganta Klassic in Ludhiana, which was attended by S. Upkar Singh Ahuja, President, Chamber of Industrial & Commercial Undertakings (CICU) along with other senior members.

Singh highlighted the issue of hike in steel prices and urged the government to direct the regulatory authorities to keep a check on the continuous rise in steel prices, said the press release.

Addressing the job reservation quota of 75 per cent for Punjab domicile Labours, he opined it to be unsuitable for the industry and has called for the exemption of MSMEs from it.

Speaking about the increase in minimum wage by Punjab government, Pankaj Sharma, General Secretary, CICU said, “The revision of Minimum Wages by INR 415.89 with effect from on March 1, 2020 is done by the increasing the minimum wage from INR 8776.83 to INR 9192.72. Hence, the government should not enhance the Minimum Wages from back date e.g. March 1, 2020.”

Further, emphasizing on the issues of Enhancement of  INR 474 which was imposed on Phase-8 plots, Rajnish Ahuja, said it must be settled on priority because it is creating many hurdles for all industries as they are unable to get Bank Finance as well as Power Connection from PSPCL.

“Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation limited (PSIEC) is pulling additional bank interest charges on the Plot holders, thereby the penalty amount has increased manifold, so this issues should be resolved as early as possible,” added Ahuja.

He also highlighted that government should setup One Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme for all Departments i.e. PPCB, PSIEC, PSPCL, MCL etc.