Sinha said that he was aware of the difficulties being faced by these units and the central government was committed to stand by the small sector. The minister gave these assurances to a delegation of the Federation of Pesticides Manufacturers' Association (FOPMA) when they called upon him in the Capital. Association delegation including vice president Ashok Kumar Desai and M R Mahender Reddy submitted a memorandum to the finance minister and narrated the difficulties faced by small units. The delegation informed the finance minister that the existing excise duty of 18 per cent on technicals and 8 per cent on formulations (final usable products) was causing hardship to the small units without bringing any additional revenue to the centralgovernment.

Besides, the multinationals and big companies who manufacture technicals were exploiting the situation since they did not invite 18 per cent excise duty while formulating in the same premises as per the existing provisions.

This was causing an unfair price advantage of 15 per cent to the large units. As a result, about 500 small units would face threats of closure, if these anomalies were not corrected in time, the memorandum stated.