Nashik exporters bat for SSIs

The Nashik District Exporters' Association (NDEA) has urged the state government to take steps to bring down interest rate of loans advanced to Small Scale Industries (SSIs).

The association has asked the government to come out with a beneficial scheme to reimburse the excess interest paid by SSI units to nationalised and co-operative banks.

The body has also urged the government to set up a separate agency to promote export-related activities in the state. Performance of the Maharashtra State Small Industries Development Corporation (MSSIDC) has not risen up to expectations, it said.

An NDEA delegation, led by its president Ramesh Pawar, recently met chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and had submitted a memorandum. Speaking to Business Standard, Ramesh Pawar said interest rate of nationalised banks' loans to large-scale industries is between 6 and 7 per cent.

Similarly, for the housing and automobile finance it is from 7 to 8 per cent. "Small-scale industries play important role in the economy of the state. The interest rate charged on SSI units is higher," Ramesh Pawar said.

Due to competition and cost-saving, the earnings of SSI units are reduced. Position of SSI units is deteriorating day by day," Ramesh Pawar said.

"We have urged the government to start a scheme at the state-level to help SSIs reduce the burden. In future, interest rate on loans might reduce so the the subsidy burden on the government will not last for for a long time," he noted.