An industry is, by definition, deemed a small-scale unit if it incurs an investment on plant and machinery upto Rs 3 crore.

Till 1997, the investment limit on such units was Rs 60 lakh -- in force since 1991. However, the United Front Government last year enhanced this limit to Rs 3 crore.

Responding to the pleas made by representatives of such units, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had, while speaking at a conference organised by the Laghu Udyog Bharati on April 29 this year, announced that the investment limit on such industrial units would be reduced to Rs 1 crore. He also, simultaneously, announced a series of sops for the small-scale industries (SSI), such as measures to expedite payments to the industries' owners andremoval of the inspector raj.

Almost five months have lapsed since the PM announced the measures, but nothing has changed for the small-scale entrepreneurs. With the Government dragging its feet in the matter, disillusionment has started creeping in.

``The Government is not paying enough attention to the SSIs,'' concedes Laghu Udyog Bharati president Vishwa Mittra Bahl, ``On July 6, I reminded Vajpayee about the decisions announced by him earlier to ameliorate the lot of the small-scale entrepreneurs, but nothing has been done till now.''

Even if the Government were to formalise its decisions with respect the SSIs, they can only come into force after the next year's Budget session. ``A notification to this effect has to lie in Parliament for at least two sessions before it can be passed,'' explained an official in the Ministry of Industries. ``This will mean that the Prime Minister's announcements can into force only a year after they were made,'' he added.

Expressing his displeasure, Bahl said thatthe Government should issue the notification immediately if it was serious. He, however, sought to blame the bureaucrats for the delay. ``They are not allowing the Government to perform its duties,'' he observed.