1. By this Arbitration Petition, the Petitioner seeks challenge the Award of the sole Arbitrator dated 30 June, 2003. By the impugned Award, the Arbitrator has directed the Petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.78,19,540.13 along with interest.

2. The Petitioner– the Maharashtra Small Scale Industrial Development Corporation is a Corporation set up for the purpose of promoting small scale industries in the State of Maharashtra. The Respondent is a private limited company engaged in the business of manufacturing MS Pipes and related products. It is a small scale industrial unit.

3. The dispute between the parties, which was referred to arbitration, is regarding the interest on delayed payment made by the Respondent to the Petitioner.

4. Before proceeding with narration of the facts of the present case, it will be useful to advert to the developments as regards statutory provisions that govern the dispute. The relevant statue is “The Interest on Delayed Payments to Small Scale and Ancillary Industrial Undertakings Act, 1993 (32 of 1993)” On 23 September 1992, the President of India promulgated an Ordinance viz. The Interest on Delayed Payments to Small Scale and Ancillary Ind