Mr. A.K. Kohli

Mr A.K. Kohli, senior vice-president, Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters, turned out to be a diehard votary of SEZ.He opined that SEZ should be created somewhere between Phagwara and Phillaur, with industrial city Phagwara being its nodal hub.He considered the nascent Ranjit Garh township as the ideal site for it.It had connectivity with mainline rail, road and would have the air connectivity as well since the government had already declared that an airport would be built near Ladowal, he argued.

Besides, the open, sprawling Sutlej River bank area would provide sylvan surroundings and eco-friendly environment, he said.He had himself done a comprehensive survey about it.Even a state body had done a survey about it, claimed Mr Kohli.In case SEZ came up there, it would benefit industrialists of Phagwara, Phillaur, Goraya, Nakodar, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, he said.The entire region was an NRI-rich belt and it would attract investments from North America, Middle East and Central Western countries having Punjabi population, he asserted.

If SEZ was declared for Doaba as had been done for the border belt of Amritsar and Mohali, then direct and indirect employment opportunities for ten to fifteen thousand people would be generated.Ex-servicemen would be absorbed in supervisory and security jobs, while educated girls, who languish in unending wait for their NRI husbands who run away after "holiday marriages", would lead here an honourable life with gainful employment in computer application programmes, argued Mr Kohli, also a member of the Central Working Committee of NRI Sabha, Punjab.Ancillaries would come up in surrounding villages, providing further employment, he added.

Listing umpteen other benefits of SEZ, he said that inputs and raw material would be tax-free, industry would get riddance from "inspector raj", goods produced would be free from excise and custom duties, and VAT.

Talking to media persons here, Mr A.K. Kohli, senior vice-president, PCSE, said that there should be no tax on fringe benefits on export sale promotion services and product development. All the benefits as per the Punjab IT policy, should also be extended to all categories of exporters, especially those who are registered as 100 per cent export-oriented units with the Department of Industry and Commerce, Punjab, added Mr Kohli.

"It is a general demand from all the exporters, especially small-scale ones, producing hand tools, diesel engine pump sets and its parts, bicycle parts, tractor parts, auto parts, agricultural machinery and equipment and there should not be any discrimination among export units, like exporters under SEZ and EOU, which get income tax benefits for their units in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, etc. as they are enjoying Central excise, income tax and other tax benefits. But the exporters who have set up their small-scale units in other parts of the country and are exporting good quantum of products, are not entitled to any such tax benefits like income tax, service tax, fringe benefit tax, concessional rate of transportation of exportable goods, etc," he said.

Mr A.K. Kohli, vice-president, Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters, said more than 20 companies that were using broadband to book the orders, had been affected by the disruption.

Collection of payment is an uphill task," said Mr A.K. Kohli, senior vice-president of the Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters, and chairman of Phagwara-based Bawa Industries Private Limited, which exports diesel engines to African countries.