Date:01/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/01/stories/2004070104540500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Draft policy for sick units' revival on the anvil

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, JUNE 30. The State Government is preparing a draft policy for revival of sick industries in the small-scale sector.

The Secretary of Industries and Commerce has convened a meeting at the Secretariat in Hyderabad on July 6 for discussing the measures for formulating the draft policy, according to the president of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Industries (FAPI), B.V. Rama Rao.

The FAPI has urged small entrepreneurs to seize the opportunity and put forward their suggestions to the Government for evolving a solution to industrial sickness.

Quoting Government statistics, he told reporters here on Wednesday that of the 1.43 lakh SSIs in the State, 38,000 units had fallen sick.

On its part, the FAPI had suggested measures like waiver of accumulated bank interest, penal interest amount, sales tax and Central Excise dues, property tax and power bills, statutory liabilities like Employees State Insurance and Provident Fund payments for reviving sick units.

The FAPI wanted such initiatives to be backed by enhancement of the investment limit for the SSI sector from Rs.1 crore to Rs.5 crores, loans without the condition of high collateral security and acceptance of rural properties towards security by financial institutions and supply of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin to small units to help offset the high cost of power.