The Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has asked the central government to defer the Schedule M implementation for existing SSI units for next three years.

In a letter addressed to Sushma Swaraj, union minister for health & family welfare, he said the revised Schedule M norms could not be implemented for the medium and large-scale units and new units in accordance to the December, 31, 2003 deadline.

As per the revised Schedule M norms, existing units would require sizeable investment to provide proper water and air handling systems, air filtration systems etc., besides major changes in their layout including structural changes. For this, each unit would have to spend about Rs.30 to Rs.100 lakhs to revamp their facilities. The additional huge investment by the units would not reap immediate benefits for the SSIs, which are passing through difficult time. Further, it would cause constraints in their profitability, said the chief minister.

"The guidelines are very elaborate and it requires a long time to implement the same. It will add to the cost of production because of the investment in air conditioning, air handling system and other structural changes," stated the Gujarat CM in his letter to the union minister.

He opined the move would considerably affect Gujarat, as 45 per cent of the pharmaceutical production in India was from the state, which houses more than 3000 SSI units. A sizeable number of companies were producing for exports. The units in Gujarat were contributing significantly to the national drug requirements.

He also informed the Centre that his state government was seriously considering helping the SSI units to upgrade their technology. Knowledge based industries like the pharma industry have a large potential for female employment, and it was worthwhile to upgrade the technology and implement the requirements, felt the CM.

In another letter addressed to Dr CP Thakur, union minister of small-scale industries, Narendra Modi urged the SSI ministry to revise its decision to raise the investment limit in plant and machinery for selected type SSI units to Rs.5 crore based on the need for each industry. The decision would affect many pharmaceutical units as they were trying to conform to Schedule M norms. The units have to invest a huge amount of money for changes in the infrastructure and facilities like air conditioning, air handling, water etc., which naturally causes many units to surpass the present Rs.1 crore limit, and it was necessary to reverse the decision, said Narendra Modi.