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Visakhapatnam, Nov. 18 Small and medium enterprises, badly hit by the global economic recession, are in no position to pay back bank loans and, therefore, the banks should declare moratorium for a year, the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Industries (FAPI) has pleaded.

At a press meet here, Mr B.V Rama Rao, President of the FAPI, said that almost 40 per cent of the 3.45 lakh small and medium units in Andhra Pradesh had become sick and the rest would suffer the same fate, if the Union Government did not intervene and declare moratorium.

He said the prudential norms too were very harsh and the RBI had set the time limit of only 90 days against 180 days earlier, for the NPA norms to come into force.

He said SMEs were in no position to comply with such stringent norms in the present economic scenario. He urged the Union Government to rescue the units.

Mr V.V.N Murthy, President of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Ancillaries’ Association, said even the bigger units such as the Visakhapatnam steel plant were finding the going very difficult in the present economic situation and, therefore, it would be next to impossible for smaller units to survive, if the Government did not go their rescue.

More Stories on : SSI | Credit Market | Andhra Pradesh

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