The Hindu Business Line : SIEMA to coax Coimbatore pump units to go for BIS marking

The SSI units that are manufacturing pump-sets without BIS markings have been motivated to fall in line with the Government requirement. Govt urged to extend deadline up to Sept 30

Coimbatore , March 21

The Coimbatore-based Southern India Engineering Manufacturers' Association (SIEMA)has planned to motivate the SSI (small scale industry) units in the region to go for securing theBIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) marking at the earliest.

It has been urging the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to put on hold from April 1 the new rule to restrict SSI exemption only to pump manufacturers who have BIS marking for their products.

To bring down the costs involved in the certification process, it has approached the BIS to certify the pumps at the factory level as conforming to its norms.

Mr C.R. Swaminathan, President, SIEMA, said many small and tiny pump manufacturers in Coimbatore produced ISI-marked pumps as well as pumps without the BIS marking. If the SSI exemption to these units is withdrawn suddenly, it would hit the SSI sector. He requested for the extension of time limit up to September 30 to meet the Government deadline.

According to Mr G. Rajendran, former President of SIEMA, out of the nearly 500 pump-set manufacturing units in Coimbatore, around 275 are paying the minimum marking fee under the SSI sector. The number of units producing pump-sets without BIS marking is 125-175.

He said while the turnover of the pump industry in Coimbatore region is Rs 1,200-1,300 crore per year, the share of the non-ISI marked and below Rs 1-crore turnover units is only about Rs 200 crore. Hence, the Government would not suffer any significant revenue loss by putting off by six months the deadline for pump manufacturers to comply with its rule.

He said he had, along with the Coimbatore MP, Mr K. Subbarayan, met Mr V. Jayaraman, Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs, and other officials in New Delhi, and represented to them the hardships the latest notification would cause to the industry.

Mr Rajendran said the association has also initiated steps to motivate the SSI units that are manufacturing pump-sets without BIS markings to fall in line with the Government requirement.

BIS testing

To minimise the costs involved in securing the BIS marking for tiny and small units, it has approached the BIS to conduct testing at the factory premises so that the units could save on testing costs that range from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 per model. The units have to pay only the inspection charges to the BIS, amounting to about Rs 3,300 per day; and for small-scale units this could be completed in a day.

Mr Rajendran said since the BIS had only a handful of pending applications, it is also prepared to conduct the tests at the factory level, provided the units approach it. The units would also gain by obtaining the ISI mark since they would be able to get a higher price for their products.

However, Mr J. Balu, President, Coimbatore District Small Industries' Association, wanted the order to be scrapped as it threatens the survival of the small-scale pump manufacturers.

He said the short time available to get the ISI mark made it impractical to gear up