Bengaluru, March 1 -- The skyrocketing fuel price hike has completely eroded the margin of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and they are faced with the threat of near extinction, said KASSIA in its reaction to the price heading towards three digits in Karnataka.

"Just when the micro and small scale industries have been battling the triple whammy of the economic slowdown, the lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic, the soaring petrol and diesel prices will eat into the operational costs of the MSME by nearly 25-30 per cent and this will hurt their very viability," said K B Arasappa, President, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA).

"The effect will be across the board, on manufacturing, machine tools, automotive...