Ludhiana: Industry gives cold shoulder to bandh call, 90% operational
According to the industrialists, the whole industry of Ludhiana is facing a loss of ₹500 crore every day due to road blockages
The industrial town of Punjab gave a cold shoulder to the ‘Bharat Bandh’ call on Friday, with more than 90% of the factories remaining operational.
However, due to road blocks by farmers and trade unions, attendance of workers remained low in factories. According to the industrialists, the whole industry of Ludhiana is facing a loss of ₹500 crore every day due to road blockages.
According to industrialists, due to continuous protests and road blocks, importers avoid giving them orders and prefer the industry of other states.
Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association (FOPSIA), said that they had appealed to the farm leaders that due to the protests, industry of Punjab has been affected badly and it affects state’s economy. They asked the farmer unions to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
Jindal added that the industry did not support farmer unions in the ‘bandh’ call and factories remained operational.
He added that the Ludhiana industry has business of ₹1,000 crore daily. Due to protests, it is cut by half.
Similarly, transportation of raw material and processed products has been affected.
JP Aggarwal, president of Ludhiana Goods Transport Association, said that due to the ongoing protests, the transportation has been hit. Transportation costs have increased, which is affecting the economy.
Upkar Singh Ahuja, president Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) said that the industry remained open despite the “Bharat Bandh” call. He added that Punjab has no monopoly in any product following which the buyers are shifting to other states. Repeated protests have also affected the image of Punjab.
Pankaj Sharma, president of Association of Trade and Industrial Undertakings (ATIU) expressed concern over the manner in which business activities were affected by the “bandh”.
He advised unions to hold peaceful negotiations with the government instead of holding blockades and stopping all trade and industrial activities.