The South India Spinners Association (SISPA) has expressed disappointment over the Centre’s decision to not include the small and medium spinning units in its recently announced Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS).

In a statement, SISPA president C. Varadharajan said that the SME spinning sector was totally neglected and were not able to avail the benefits of the new ATUFS. Although he has welcomed the scheme, which comes as a huge relief to the industry that is reeling under global recession and sharp decline in exports, Varadharajan has requested the government to include the small and medium spinning units in the ATUFS.

TUFS was launched in April 1999, but the small and medium spinning mills, which come under the standalone spinning category, did not qualify to claim the TUF benefits because of the stipulated Minimum Economic Size (MES) restriction. It took another ten years to remove the MES stipulation.

Despite the fact that SME had to deal with the problem of high capital investment, they also couldn’t afford to lag in technology. SISPA has also requested the government to give a one-time capital subsidy of 15 percent to SME spinning mills for procuring new machinery.