Date:07/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/07/stories/2005010715010800.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Take advantage of SSI schemes'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JAN. 6. The Director of the Small Industries Service Institute (SISI), Chennai, G.M. Ambhore, has appealed to small entrepreneurs to take advantage of various schemes operated by the Small Industry Development Organisation (SIDO) of the Union Government to enable SSIs to upgrade themselves and achieve competitiveness on a global basis.

Speaking at a workshop on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its impact on SSI units here on Wednesday, Mr. Ambhore regretted that only about 300 units in Tamil Nadu had taken advantage of the subsidy for obtaining ISO certification.

Most of the units would have taken to the ISO programme out of insistence of their buyers in the large sector.

`Adopt bar coding'

Mr. Ambhore said assistance was available to SSIs to adopt bar coding, which would be valuable in undertaking exports and supplying to the organised retail sector. Schemes for participation in trade fairs and study of export markets, the capital-linked subsidy (of 12 per cent) scheme for technological upgradation and schemes of assistance to State Governments and SSI associations for setting up testing laboratories, cluster development and infrastructure development were all aimed at enabling SSIs to meet the challenge of the WTO regime marked by low import tariffs.

D. Rajendran, Secretary (Small Industries) to the Tamil Nadu Government, said the Centre had already approved three cluster development programmes for the State. These included the automobile components sector (at Ambattur, Thirumudivakkam and Thirumazhisai in Chennai), wet grinder cluster in Coimbatore and garments cluster in Tirupur.

Five other product-wise cluster programmes were pending sanction. Clusters would not only provide common facilities but also enable the units to procure raw material in bulk at low costs.