Demand to Declare Batala as an Industrial Cluster Without Delay
Batala/Gurdaspur, January 15 (Sarabjit Singh Kalsi):- Parmjit Singh Gill, National Executive President of the Himalaya Parivar Organisation, said that Batala, once known as the “Manchester of India,” remained a strong pillar of Punjab’s industrial economy for decades. In the fields of machine tools, engineering products, foundry work and skilled manufacturing, Batala made a significant contribution across the country to agriculture, infrastructure and industry.
He said that despite its strong technical expertise and industrial experience passed down through generations, Batala’s industry is today struggling for revival. He pointed out that years of policy neglect, deteriorating infrastructure, lack of sector-specific industrial incentives and limited access to financial facilities have pushed many industrial units towards closure. This decline, he emphasized, is not due to a lack of capability, but due to the absence of sustained government attention.
Drawing attention to this serious situation, Parmjit Singh Gill, President of the Batala Industrial Estate Factories Association, appealed to the Punjab Government and the Central Government to intervene immediately by declaring Batala a priority industrial cluster.
Gill stated, “Batala has spent years building skills, experience and production capacity on its own. What is now required is strong and decisive government support. If timely intervention is not made, we risk losing a highly skilled industrial ecosystem that will be extremely difficult to rebuild.”
He stressed that Batala can play a major role in national initiatives such as Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat, particularly in the areas of capital goods, defence-related manufacturing, railways and engineering equipment. With central support, this region can generate large-scale employment and significantly reduce dependence on imports.
Gill demanded a time-bound industrial revival package for Batala, which should include immediate improvement of infrastructure in industrial areas, special incentives for small industries, interest subsidies and easy access to credit, technology upgradation schemes and cluster-based skill development programmes.
He said, “When Punjab talks about employment for youth and economic growth, it cannot afford to ignore its traditional industrial centres. Reviving Batala is not a favour to industry, but an investment in Punjab’s future.”
Industrialists believe that if action is not taken even now, Punjab’s manufacturing base could suffer permanent damage. However, timely policy support has the potential to transform Batala once again into a modern and competitive engineering hub.
KL JIT WALIA
