Punjab Plywood Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) has sought to the central government to put the plywood industry in the special category and reduce the interest rate by 2 percent because plywood industry has been considered as the agro-based industry. They asked the government to direct financial institutions and banks to reduce the interest rate. Mr. Ashok Juneja, Chairman, PPMA addressing a meeting of plywood producers of state-organized recently in Ludhiana said, “Plywood had been duly declared by the government as an agro-based industry but no concessional treatment was given to it.”
He demanded that banks and other financial institutions should reduce rates of interest by 2 percent on advances, limits, and loans availed of by the industry. It is noted that Plywood Industry is using plantation based timber such as Poplar and Eucalyptus, which is being grown by farmers. Certainly, the growth of plywood industry helps the farmer’s income. The recently central government has lifted restrictions on felling of such trees from private land and on transit on wood. For boosting wood panel industries in India, the government has also eased up licensing norms for putting up new plants; hence financial support should be inevitable for wood panel industry for the further boost, as unanimously resonated by industry people.