New Delhi, Sept. 28: The government is recasting the small and medium-size enterprises (SME) development bill to classify tiny and micro industries as special categories that need protection, besides bringing in a new class ? the medium scale industry.

“As many as 98 per cent of the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on the SME bill have been accepted and amendments have been suggested based on that,” Anupam Dasgupta, secretary in the small scale, agro and rural industries ministry, told reporters here today.

The amendments suggested by the ministry are being considered by a group of ministers (GoM) headed by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee.

After the GoM takes a final view, the bill will be sent to the cabinet before it is taken up for discussion in Parliament.

The panel has recommended that manufacturing units with an investment of up to Rs 25 lakh and service providers with an investment of Rs 10 lakh be categorised as tiny industry.

The bill considers units with an investment of up to Rs 5 crore in plant and machinery as small scale and those with investments of up to Rs 10 crore as medium industries.

Analysts said the move to bring in medium scale industries within the ambit of the SSI sector would help these companies get tax sops and cheaper loans.

The bill was introduced during the budget session of Parliament and was sent to the standing committee for examination.

The committee had pointed out that tiny enterprises have not been classified in the bill, along with small and medium enterprises. It recommended that the tiny sector be classified separately. The defence minister has said the GoM would adequately address the concerns voiced by the vast majority of tiny or micro enterprises.

The committee has also recommended that the bill should provide for the railways to earmark a definite percentage of its freight capacity for transporting raw materials for tiny, small and medium industries and their products in wagon load and small parcels.