The small scale pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country will soon meet the Group of Ministers (GoM) chairman Sharad Pawar to apprise him of their major demands such as reduction of excise duty to 8 per cent and the raising of SSI investment limit from the existing Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 5 crore. The SSIs are deeply sore over the fact their major demands were overlooked by the industry associations when they made the presentation before the GoM on September 12.

The GoM on national pharmaceutical policy had its second meeting on September 12 in which the GoM had invited all the major pharmaceutical associations including IPA, IDMA and the CIPI to air their views on the policy. Though the CIPI, which represents around 5000 small pharma units in the country, was also invited by the GoM to present its views in the meeting on September 12, the small scale units feel let down by the collective presentation made by the industry associations as the presentation did not mention about their major demands.

Instead of making individual presentations, the associations made a collective presentation to the GoM without specifying anything about the issues of the SSIs, a senior SSI activist said. SSIs are seeking an appointment with Pawar to inform him about their demands, he said.

Though the focus of the presentation made by the industry as a whole was on the controversial issue of price control, all the individual associations have their own demands. While the SSIs are also arguing for price monitoring by the government in lieu of the present price control, they also wanted to include other major demands like reduction of excise duty, hike in abatement and hike in SSI criterion for having a level playing field.

The GoM which had already heard the views of the industry associations, will hear the views of the common man before finalizing the policy which has been long overdue. For keeping itself abreast of the common man's interest, the GoM has invited some NGOs to present the case. Though no date has yet been finalized for hearing the NGOs' views, sources said it may happen any time now. However, sources in the Chemicals ministry said that everything, including the fate of the policy itself, is dependent on the unfolding political developments in Delhi.