500 units in Adityapur won’t import equipment from China
THE DECISION WAS TAKEN IN AN ASIA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING ON THURSDAY EVENING
JAMSHEDPUR: About 500 companies in Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority (AIADA), the biggest in Eastern India with 1,397 industrial units, won’t import any Chinese equipment, raw material or finished goods in the wake of Galwan faceoff and unprovoked Chinese aggression in Ladakh, industrial and trade bodies decided here on Friday.
On an average, these 500 companies place eight to 10 orders per month. “The orders range from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 3 crore. Moreover, not all companies import Chinese material as alternatives are available both in domestic markets as well as in Taiwan and South Korea. People go for Chinese imports as they are cheap but quality-wise those are very poor. Chinese products are 50% cheaper than those of Taiwan, Korea or domestic products because Chinese government subsidizes those products,” Inder Agrawal, president, Adityapur Small Industries Association (ASIA), said.
The decision was taken in an ASIA executive committee meeting on Thursday evening. It was also decided to substitute the material with indigenous products and, in some cases, import from other countries.
“Most of the computer numerical control (CNC) machines for tools such as drills, boring tools, lathe and 3D printers etc. are from China,’ added Agrawal.
“We will decide in a day or two to identify such substitutes which can be made in India or bought from other countries. We will write to PM Narendra Modi and CM Hemant Soren with this list shortly. We request the governments to stand by small, medium and micro enterprises and control profiteering by some section of the business. With imports from China stopped, demand in the domestic market will rise and some will tend to resort to profiteering by exploiting the supply gap. We are ready to bear a five per cent extra cost, but we also need to fight China’s aggression as our soldiers battle on the borders,” he said.
Laghu Udyog Bharti (LUB) president Rupesh Katriar said the body has identified 500 products, ranging from Barbie dolls to castings, which can substitute Chinese products. “The government needs to adopt five crore MSMEs to beat China and use this opportunity to build an ‘atmanirbhar’ Bharat,” said Rupesh.
Vivek Agrawal, another industrialist, said most of the foundry industries use carburizers (carbon additives) for heat treatment process, the bulk of which is imported from China. “We have indigenous substitutes for this in the form of coconut chaff, which is called charcoal, but its price has gone up by Rs 38-40, 000 per tonne now as compared to Rs 5000-6000 per tonne in 2016. Chinese carburizers are available at Rs 26-27,000 per tonne,” said Vivek.