what was the policy of ap
Answers
Andhra Pradesh has embarked upon a Mission, which is, to be at the forefront of industrial development in the country by the year 2020. The Government is conscious that fulfilling this Mission needs not only ideas and dreams but also a lot of hard, realistic planning guided by well spelt out policy directions.
In 1995, the Government enunciated its Industrial Policy 'Target 2000' which set the tone for adopting a new approach to industrial development in the liberalized economy. One of the objectives of this New Industrial Policy has been to promote the growth of small scale and cottage industries to help the small entrepreneurs.
The State today has nearly 2,30,000 Small and Tiny industries established in the State. The contribution of the Small Scale Sector to the State's economy cannot be overestimated. Employing a work force of over 22 lakh, the sector contributes about Rs.4800 Cr to the NSDP and accounts for roughly 35-40% of the State's export. The potential of the sector to utilise locally available resources, skills and entrepreneurial ability is of enormous importance for a State faced with the daunting task of removing regional imbalances through dispersal of economic activity and of providing employment opportunities. Added to this, the low operational costs and flexibility of adopting production processes suited to differing requirements, make the sector well suited to the capabilities of small entrepreneurs.
The sector has, however, been beset with several difficulties. While infrastructural and resource centered bottlenecks are common with large and medium industries, the SSI sector today faces certain peculiar problems which are innate to it viz. lack of access to credit, marketing problems, complying with cumbersome procedures, harassment by inspecting Governmental functionaries, technological obsolescence, rigid labour laws impeding operational flexibility etc. These unique problems require special solutions. They therefore call for adoption of specific and well thought out strategies to meet the needs of the Small Scale Sector.
Further, amidst the general euphoria created by the liberalization policies of Government of India initiated in 1991, there lurks amongst the small entrepreneurs considerable fear that the decontrol of industry, increased competition, market- oriented reforms and globalization of the economy are likely to adversely affect the small scale sector in the country.
In order to develop the small scale sector, Government feels that it is imperative to spell out a specific policy framework which would set the tone and direction of the Governmental effort to help this sector achieve its full potential. In order to make the policy more realistic, Government have gone through an elaborate process of consultations with SSI Associations, officials of related Government Departments and individual entrepreneurs.