Santosh Khaitan, the newly elected president of Adityapur Small Industries Association ( ASIA ), the state's largest and oldest industry outfit promised development of Adityapur industrial area, a hub of around 1,200-odd micro, small and medium enterprises ( MSME ) in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district.
Soon after winning the keenly contested biennial polls of the industry outfit on Saturday, Khaitan told The Telegraph Online that all his actions would be focussed on development of industries and infrastructure at Adityapur, the state's largest industry hope.
Much emphasis would also be laid on exploring opportunities for exporting industrial products manufactured in Adityapur-based industries to other countries.
"Currently, a couple of industries have been exporting their products to other countries. We will focus and promote foreign tie-ups for technology transfer and product sale. We will also get in touch with various export promotion councils which function under the Union commerce ministry for export promotion," said Khaitan adding that several industrial units operating at Adityapur industrial area have potential for exporting their products but they lack necessary knowledge and know- how.
According to Khaitan, the Covid-19 induced pandemic and the series of lockdowns has posed several challenges for industries. But, he hoped that things will change for the better in the days to come.
In an interesting contest, Khaitan, who served the previous committee as a vice-president defeated his rival Rajiv Ranjan, also a vice-president in the previous committee, by a margin of 128 votes.
The results of the biennial polls, held through a secret ballot, were declared late on Saturday evening.
For the first time the ASIA biennial polls took place for electing the president only.
Those in the other 10 posts of office-bearers of the industry outfit were earlier elected unopposed.
Rajiv Ranjan got 133 votes while Santosh Khaitan polled 261 votes. Four votes were rejected as they were found invalid.
Khaitan said that he would also ensure that the industrialists and entrepreneurs in Adityapur industrial area get the best facilities.
The new ASIA team is headed by Santosh Khaitan as president.
Dasrath Upadhyay was elected as the general secretary while Ratan Lal Gupta was elected as the treasurer, unopposed.
The office bearers of the executive body of ASIA also comprises four vice-presidents and four secretaries - all elected unopposed.
The four elected vice- presidents included Deepak Dokania, Sudhir Kumar Singh, Santokh Singh and K Murlidharan.
The four new secretaries included Mandeep Singh, Ashok Gupta, Divyanshu Sinha and Tapas Kumar Sahu.
