ENA State 2019-01-02 11:59:34 <p><strong>New Delhi, Jan 2 (KNN) </strong>Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation Limited's (PSIEC) decision to close down its all raw material depots in state of Punjab has come as shocker for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), said Badish Jindal, President of Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association (FOPSIA).</p> <p>In a letter to Punjab Chief Minister, Captain S. Amarinder Singh, FOPSIA President said It is indeed shocking that recently in a board meeting held on December 17, 2018 the PSIEC has decided to close down its all raw material depots in the state of Punjab.</p> <p>Expressing disappointment on this, Jindal said that these raw material depots are the back bone of steel consuming industry, and the PSIEC was selling a good quantity of steel, pig iron and coal through these depots.</p> <p>The closedown is surely going to impact the MSMEs as the companies are selling their material on slab discounts, he added.</p> <p>The PSIEC is selling around 50000 m tons of steel to the MSMEs through their depots. The volume was high during last years but slowly and slowly the PSIEC is discouraging this scheme, said Jindal.</p> <p>He said Last month, the slab discount of Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant was around 2700 Rs per ton, which means that the big companies/traders gets the material cheaper from the steel companies and if some MSME will buy the same material from Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant, they will have to pay around 2700 Rs per ton more for the small quantities.</p> <p>The similar is in the case of SAIL and other companies, FOPSIA President pointed.</p> <p>The MSMEs are ready to pay the service charges to the PSIEC for providing the material, which can prove to be a good source of income, despite that they decided to close these depots.</p> <p>The closure of raw material deports seems to be a conspiracy with the MSMEs to give an underhand benefit to the large manufacturers, added Jindal.</p> <p>This PSIEC was started in 1962 for the promotion of MSMEs in the State and since 1970 the PSIEC is supplying the material to the Industry, said Jindal.</p> <p>Jindal said There are more than 1 lakh steel consuming industries in the state and this decision will surely put a question mark on the existence and growth of steel consuming MSMEs of the state.</p> <p>Requesting Chief Minister to look into this matter, Jindal said that due to this decision the MSMEs will left with only option to procure directly from the steel plants which will be 1500 Rs to 2500 Rs higher as compared the large companies/traders. Or the MSMEs will have to buy the steel from traders by paying higher prices.</p> <p>Adding to the statement, he mentioned that PSIEC was also giving the handling and storage facilities to MSMEs and due to its closure the MSMEs will fail to get the long term contracts from large companies.</p> <p>In its manifesto and as per industrial policy the state government has assured to promote the MSMEs in the state but on the contrary the government has decided to discontinue the raw material supply facility to the MSMEs which is the back bone of MSME industries, pointed Jindal.</p> <p>Highlighting the issues, Jindal requested CM to kindly revert the PSIEC decision at earliest to save steel consuming MSME units.</p> 21702 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/state/psiecs-decision-to-shut-its-raw-material-depots-is-a-big-blow-for-steel-consuming-msmes-fopsia-tells-cm 2019-01-02 11:59:34 knnindia.co.in