(a) whether Confederation of Indian Industry have recommended for setting up a Small Scale Industries Development Fund;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government are aware of the problems faced by small scale industries despite the package announced two years back; and
(d) if not, the action taken or proposed to be taken to protect them?
MINISTER OF SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES AND MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION ( DR. C. P. THAKUR )
(a) & (b): The Confederation of Indian Industry has suggested for
setting up a Small Industries Development Fund with an initial
corpus of Rs. 5000 crore for Technology Upgradation, building
marketing and infrastructure facilities and extending assistance
for rehabilitation of sick units.
(c) & (d): The Small Scale Industries (SSIs) face the problems of
inadequate availability and high cost of credit, inadequate
infrastructure, marketing bottlenecks, obsolete technology and
enhanced competition due to globalisation, W.T.O. & removal of
Quantitative Restrictions etc. While development of Small Scale
Industries is primarily the responsibility of the State/UT
Governments, the Central Government has taken various steps to
improve their performance. Apart from the Comprehensive Policy
Package announced by the Prime Minister in August, 2000 to enhance
the competitiveness of the SSI sector both domestically and
globally, other measures for promotion and development of SSI
sector include special focus on areas such as technology
upgradation, enhancing SSI investment ceiling for certain hi-tech
export oriented industries, infrastructure development through
cluster approach, timely availability of credit, adoption of
modern management practices, use of electronic infrastructure and
other IT applications.