Bahadurgarh industries in trouble due to poor law & order situation and lack of infrastructure

BAHADURGARH: Bahadurgarh industries find themselves in a cesspool of reasons threatening to blunt their market edge and in some instances even their force them to move out.

Achyut Bhardwaj, director of Chemi Kleen, a Naraina Industrial Area-based company, started from Bahadurgarh said, "Our distillation unit for manufacturing perfumes is in Bahadurgarh. However, issues like broken roads, absence of sewage lines and law and order have hit growth."

Now, they use the distillation unit there on a need-to basis. The state of shambles ensured realty prices here remained low. A reason why Chemi Kleen cannot profit in moving to a higher realty priced area. Bhardwaj said, "We cannot shift out because we would not profit from selling our land and factory here. Compared to areas in Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad, we are left behind."

Pradeep Doot, assistant sales manager of Ruhil Developers said, "Property rate in Bahadurgarh is around Rs 2,255 per sq ft whereas in Gurgaon and Noida it is around Rs 5,000 per sq ft." Ruhil Developers has been in Haryana for the last 15 years and is a major realty player. It has clients like Radico, Jindal and Haryana Institute of Technology etc.

Transport, Sewage Issues

Pointing towards the transportaion, Bhardwaj said, "We cannot take our own trucks or vehicles to transport goods because the union there, acting like goons by stopping our trucks, want us to use their trucks."

Rakesh Pahuja, owner of New Leather, based out of Bahadurgarh Industrial Area also concurred. He said, "The unions want monoply. If a company spends Rs 1,200 for transporting goods through their own truck, the union charges double."

Apart from this, Pahuja also said that there are no sewage lines. "This is one of the biggest issues. The water overflows on the roads and the situation worsens with the monsoon. The government has not started the repair work," he complained.

Official Take

Gulshan Kumar, deputy general manager of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) said, "There are no problems plaguing the industry here." Putting the onus on the proprietors he said, "Those who want to work, they make their own arrangements like using digisets, making sure that their work goes on. We have met the Industrial Association of Bahadur-garh and plan to set up a 132 Kv power plant which should be up in 5 months."

Due to electricity shortage, AH Brothers shifted out of Bahadurgarh. The owner explicated the decision by pointing to the endemic power cuts which were disrupting operations.

Vipin Bajaj, President, Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries said, "Small players barely survive due to tough competition from Chinese goods, imported cheap. Moreover, since these small industries are subject to stringent taxes and in the absence of a single tax authority, they are forced to bear costs of preparing reports and running to multiple authorities."

He also said that corporate firms of Gurgaon are the driving force behind the city whereas Faridabad is an auto ancillary hub. However, Bahadurgarh does not even have auto ancillary companies, which are a big source of employment generation.