Replying to a brief discussion in the Upper House, steel minister Brij Kishore Tripathy said the two acts which had been brought in for the economic development of West Bengal had served their purpose and therefore could be repealed.

Fast track power projects: The generation has started in three of the eight fast track power projects in the country, power minister PR Kumaramangalam informed the House. In a written reply, he said these power projects involved foreign direct investment and were chosen for extension of counter guarantee of the government in 1994.

Rates of tariff for the power generated in the case of these projects was determined on the basis of the two part tariff - fixed charge and variable charge.

Textile: A new textile policy would be finalised soon keeping in mind workers' interests, textiles minister Kashi Ram Rana said.

Rural roads: A programme has been initiated to provide all-weather roads to all villages, rural development minister Sunderlal Patwa said.

SSIs: The number of small-scale units has increased during the last three years, the Lok Sabha was informed during question hour Wednesday. The estimated total number of registered and unregistered small-scale units in the country during the years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 was 30.14 lakh, 31.21 lakh and 32.25 lakh respectively, small-scale industries minister Vasundhara Raje said in a written reply.

Khadi: A number of khadi rebate claims were prima-facie found bogus. Action has been taken by the KVIC by freezing the financial assistance or by suspending the khadi certificates. Disciplinary and administrative action has also been initiated or taken against the erring officials, Raje said.

Agro expenses: The total expenditure on agricultural research and development during the last three years (for which the annual accounts) are completed has been on the rise, minister of state of agriculture Debendra Pradhan said. It was Rs 609.93 crore in 1996-97, Rs 695.38 crore in 1997-98 and Rs 972.49 crore in 1998-99.

ICRA: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has developed genetically engineered rice through transfer of gene cryl aa from a bacterium, bacillus thuringiensis (BT), with the objective to impart resistance to stem borer. These transgenics are being evaluated, and the bioassy in the containment facility have shown that these carry the resistance to stem borer, Pradhan said.