The industry minister felt that following the revision of the definition of small-scale industries from an investment limit of Rs 60 lakh in plant and machinery to Rs 3 crore at the beginning of the year, it is necessary to update the duty slabs accordingly.

Bakht further said the excise relief on branded goods offered to the SSIs till 1993-94 needs to be restored in order to boost the sector. This, which was withdrawn on the grounds of misuse by large scale units, he felt was necessary since SSIs are capable of producing goods for mass consumption but face difficulties with regard tomarketing.

According to Bakht, sickness is a chronic problem for the SSIs especially in the absence of any effective mechanism to deal with. He stated that special attention would be paid for reorienting fiscal, trade and monetary policies and also for ensuring their effective implementation at all levels to make the small-scale industries more competitive.

On the problem of non-availability of timely bank credit to the SSIs, Bakht said that there is a need for vigilant monitoring of credit flow to the small-scale sector by the Reserve Bank. Bakht also observed that despite the fact that SSIs are entitled to prime lending rates, in reality most of the units have to pay three per cent extra over the PLRs.

Earlier in his keynote address, Ashok Parthasarathi, secretary, department of small-scale industries and union ministry of food processing, stated that it is necessary to convert existing SSIs into private limited companies in order to lend them transparency in their operations.

According toParthasarathi, the limited companies structure is a `sine qua non' for the growth of capital formation, technology upgradation and for accessing low-cost finance in the small-scale sector.

He also said that adequate growth of venture capital funds is required for which necessary awareness among high network individuals and entrepreneurs needs to be spread for setting up enterprises based on new and innovative technologies.