'India is a manufacturing unfriendly country'

Ram Agarwal, MD and CEO of WeP Peripherals Ltd (earlier

Wipro ePeripherals) has come out strongly against the unfriendly manufacturing

policies of the Government. Says he, "India is a manufacturing unfriendly

country."

In an exclusive interview with DQCI, Ram says that Indian

manufacturers have several disadvantages as against importers. According to him,

importers enjoy better tax and duty structures. Also, Indian manufactures have

to invest heavily on logistics because government is not focusing on building

infrastructure conducive for manufacturing.

Ram would like MNCs to take up manufacturing in the

country. Says he, "Poor infrastructure is one of the reasons why MNCs shy

away from manufacturing in India."

"We would like the Government to support the Indian IT

manufacturing industry by helping us to establish a vibrant base for

hardware," points out Ram. He is of the opinion that duties on imported

parts and components including items of dual usage should be relaxed.

Ram emphasized that there should be a minimum 10 percent

duty differential between input parts and components and finished goods. This

differential alone would make Indian manufacturers competitive in the market

place vis-a-vis the importers.

WeP Peripherals has announced that it is having a relook at

its manufacturing facility at Pondicherry. "We are looking out for a

location which will provide us better returns on our investments on

manufacturing in terms of infrastructure, regulations and taxes," says Ram.

According to him, WeP plans to launch a new manufacturing facility in addition

to the present one in Pondicherry.

WeP is in advance talks with Kongue, a China-based company

to market WeP products in the Chinese market. According to Ram, WeP is

considering plans to set-up a manufacturing facility in association with Kongue, which will cater to the Chinese market.

SUNILA PAUL