Industry in the red, Peenya shuts down

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: Around 20 percent of the state’s 6.50 lakh Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are still struggling to stay afloat after the losses incurred during the pandemic.

The fact that the price of raw materials has almost doubled since 2020 has crippled them further.

On Monday, hundreds of industrialists joined a silent rally organised by the Peenya Industries Association (PIA). The march began from the PIA office in Peenya and concluded at TVS Circle.

Entrepreneurs have demanded a fixed MRP for raw materials, the removal of import duty as well as more transparency in the pricing mechanisms.

MSMEs provide employment to around seventy percent of the population but little is being done to encourage their growth or safeguard their interests. Instead, the price of raw materials has increased by over 100 percent from April 2020. Aluminium alloy, for instance, which cost Rs 106 per kilo in 2020 has risen by 154.72 percent to Rs 270 per kilo in October this year. Raw engineering plastic has also doubled in price, from Rs 70 in 2020 to Rs 140 per kilo in 2021.