33 SSIs declared sick in one year

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">PATNA: The state level apex body for small industries has declared 33 small scale industries (SSIs) in the last one year as sick. </span><br /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Preparation of rehabilitation package of these sick industries is yet to gain pace.Firming up of spines of "viable" sick industries for their revival seem to be a distant possibility due to the "slow moving state industries department".</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The recent decision of the State Bank of India to open its Rehabilitation and Recovery branch in Patna by the end of this year has brought some ray of hope for rehablilitation and restructuring of sick SSIs. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">In addition to the 33 SSIs that have been declared sick by the Apex body, the Bihar Industries Association (BIA) has created another list of 15 sick industries that may become viable units after rehabilitation.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">"Merely the opening of SBI''s Rehabilitation and Recovery branch will not do. The scheduled commercial banks must come forward to open such branches in Bihar. The sick industries, that had taken loans from the respective banks but had become sick, may move to the respective banks with ''viable'' rehabilitation package for rescheduling of their loans and other needed benefits on a long term basis", the BIA president, S K Mehrotra told TOI on Tuesday.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The state directorate of industries is moving at snails pace over the matter for rehabilitation of sick industries. Being headed by an in-charge director, it fails to maintain pace to provide a strong nerve and spine to revive the sick industries.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The BIA president rued that the state industries department has suffered a lot due to there being no permanent director for about last six months.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The in-charge director, industries, B K Pandey, told this reporter to meet the functionaries of the Small Industries Service Institute (SISI), a central government unit here, which is convener of the state level apex committee for small industries, to get any details.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The concerned SISI official was learnt to have received applications from sick industries for rehabilitation. But he was on leave for the last couple of two days with there bing no other official to explain the exact position.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Despite this lackadaisical approach of the concerned agencies to firm up spines of the "viable" sick industries, there is some optimism in the BIA about RBI''s move for initiating a measure for "resettlement of loans of the small and medium industries (SMEs) on the pattern of corporate restructuring".</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The BIA recently received communication from the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the SIDBI about consideration of its proposal by the RBI for allowing resettlement of loans of the sick SSIs (SMEs) on the pattern of corporate restructuring of big industries. </span><br /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><br /><span style="" font-size:="">When RBI announces such a scheme, the loan repayment scheduling on a long term basis will enable sick SSIs units to revive and firm up their base for further growth, said an economist of BIA, M Sharan.</span><br /></div> </div>