Modifications In Standards And Labelling Programme Sought
Former president of Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association G. Rajendran (centre) and Coimbatore MP K. Subbarayan (left) presenting a memorandum on standards and labelling programme to the Union Minister of Power, Sushil Kumar Shinde, in New Delhi recently. The Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA) has appealed to Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to include the suggestions of the industry in the standards and labelling programme for pumpsets and motors. In a memorandum to the Minister, the association said that since 2001 it had submitted a paper to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) regarding the standards and labelling programme. In a move to finalise the project, a meeting was held in Coimbatore recently and the pump and motor industry here had sought certain modifications. However, recently the Bureau had asked the pumpset manufacturers to register for the programme and had not included the modifications sought by the industry. The SIEMA said the registration fee for firms should be brought down from Rs. 1 lakh as a concession for micro, small and medium enterprises. The product registration fee should be Rs. 1,000 depending on the product category and the Bureau of Indian Standards License number. The maximum retail price need not be mentioned on the name plate of the product. The monitoring mechanism for the standards and labelling programme should be clear so that the BEE mark was not misused.
Further, the SIEMA pointed out that in the case of products such as refrigerators and air conditioners, the products had ratings in the level of three to five. For the pumpsets, the minimum efficiency standards were high. Hence, the rating would fall between one and two star. This might give a negative impression about the product in the market. Hence the rating should be decided as provided in detail by the industry. Coimbatore MP K. Subbarayan and former president of SIEMA G. Rajendran met the Minister in New Delhi recently and explained to him the problems in implementing the programme.
