Correct regional industrial imbalance: PM

New Delhi: Concerned over “persisting regional imbalance" in industrial development and urbanization, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said credible policy solutions were required to bring new regions under industrialization process.

Making it clear that a few large industrial houses and capitalists cannot be merely looked upon to accelerate industrial growth, he said the employment intensive nature of the small and medium enterprises make them attractive options.

“I am puzzled by the persisting regional imbalance in industrial development and urbanization in India," Singh who was inaugurating the new campus of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) said.

Although India has been a country of opposing contrasts, the chasm between development and underdevelopment must be reduced. Credible policy solutions will help reduce such imbalances and pave the way for industrial development to fan out to new regions, especially in northern and eastern India.

Referring to a report in the media that most of the billionaires among India’s top business leaders operate in an “oligopolistic" market and in sectors where the government had conferred special privileges on a few, Singh said “this sounds like crony (monopolistic) capitalism" and surely not something India would like to subscribe to.

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