Kanpur: The ongoing war in the West Asia has a visible impact on the industries in Kanpur on a large scale, increasing concerns among all the stake holders .The city industrialists said that if tensions between Iran, Israel, and America continues for 20 days, a major crisis could arise. They said that the production has declined by 50% due to the rising cost of raw materials . The industries demanded relief packages for industries and strict vigil against black marketing to save the industries and small trades. Cooperative Estate chairman Vijay Kapoor said, ” Due to impact on oil and gas supply, the cost of all products has increased. The industry and employment are being badly affected. Industries are neither getting adequate LPG gas nor the required raw material, as a result approximately 50% factories have shut down while 3% are on the verge of closure, and the remaining 20% are managing with merely 70 to 80% production capacity. In such a situation, industries are unable to provide regular employment and wages to workers..”There is a pressure on all departments to meet targets of house tax, water tax, electricity bills, GST, etc. But such a strict recovery policy is extremely worrisome when factories are shutting down, he said, adding that KESCO had increased the fuel charge by 10%. He urged the govt departments to postpone their March recovery targets, so that industry and trade can get some time to recover, said Kapoor. Black marketing has added to the problems for common masses, he added and demanded strict curbs on black marketing, and a special relief package for industries to give them a new lease of life.“In Dada Nagar industrial area, food arrangements have been made for workers at a dignified rate of just Rs 5, and workers who do not have money to pay are being provided free meals. Under this arrangement, proper food arrangements are being made for approximately 800 to 1000 workers daily,” he said.
