God of small things: Bikash Kumar Singh, president of Jharkhand Small Industries? Association. Picture by Hardeep Singh

The Jharkhand Small Industries? Association president, Bikash Kumar Singh, has been the most vocal voice fighting for the survival of small-scale industries in the state for the past few years.

Singh, who owns the well-known chemical manufacturing unit Rare Metals And Chemicals, has been active in the association for the past 15 years. His voice has been heard on a number of public platforms, from the public forums of Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission to the state department of industries.

Singh also has a successful business venture to his credit. He exports vanadium pentoxide ? a chemical that is extensively used in the fertiliser and dyes industries ? and his company has an annual turnover of over of Rs 1 crore.

A mechanical engineering graduate from BIT, Mesra, Singh set up his industrial unit at Booty right after obtaining his engineering degree.

In this interview, this master businessman speaks to S. Shekhar on the problems that have enveloped the contemporary small-scale industries sector and its future plans.

There have been accusations that small-scale industries in Jharkhand are being run by people who instead of taking an interest in expansion and profit of their business are much more interested in cornering government funds as subsidy. What do you have to say about that?

It is a wrong perception. People who have set up industrial units here are men of competence with the sincerest of intentions. And there are small-scale industries operating in Jharkhand that export quality products across the globe. Some people may look to scoop up subsidies but they are more of aberrations. In fact, many industries, which started to function in the early 80s, are the ones set up by bright engineering graduates.

Why do entrepreneurs migrate outside the state? What are the problems that an entrepreneur faces here?

My personal view is that ambitious people with a bright academic record backing them up do not intend to stay here. There are some basic problems that exist here, particularly for first generation entrepreneurs, such as the lack of active financial institutions, electricity tariff and government policies and so on.

A number of small-scale industrialists have shifted entirely to manufacturing export-oriented products or providing services to off-shore clients in states like Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and even sections of UP. Why are the industrialists here not able to promote themselves abroad?

It is true that the industrialists here have not been able to reach foreign shores for business transactions. You may call it a lack of awareness or the required instinct. But then there are around four small-scale industries, which have been exporting a major section of their produce. Siddharth Jhabar and Mahesh Biyani export their wires and ceramics products, respectively, to countries across the world. I export my products to Bangladesh. It?s a question of finding proper markets.

Multinational Companies (MNCs) have been looking forward to setting up their Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) units in smaller towns and cities instead of the metros. This, it is said, is being done to save costs and to control the attrition rates. Can?t your association make efforts to make Jharkhand a destination for such companies?

I believe the drive to pull such investors here is lacking. But such attempts will be there after the software technology park comes up here. We can, of course, make efforts to set up units like call centres. I believe further discussions and exposures at national and international platforms would be of help. But such initiatives are better if taken by the younger generation, who?ve had experiences with the MNCs.

Such initiatives have succeeded in cities like Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar. But no one wants to invest or experiment here. I do not know why. The law and order is not as bad here to scare away investment attempts. I do not think I can even stop my own son, who is a third-year engineering student, from moving out of state.

Rough estimates put the name of closed small-scale industrial units in Jharkhand at 10,000. How can they be revived?

The state needs a finance corporation to function on the lines of Bihar State Finance Corporation (BSFC). Many of the sick unit owners are not being able to revive their units because they are under debt from BSFC and no other bank will finance them till this debt is cleared. The government has washed its hand off from the matter and says that the it needs to be settled between the BSFC and the entrepreneur concerned.

How about food processing industries? After the euphoria following local MP Subodh Kant Sahay becoming the union food processing minister of state, nothing has been done. Can?t your association take initiatives for setting up such units?

Only a big player can attract smaller food processing units. For instance the Indian Tobacco Company has opened up a sauce manufacturing unit in Punjab and that apparently has attracted a number of small-scale manufacturers.

But we need the required support and the environment for setting up such units. It?s very difficult to find market for food processing products.