In Budget, hope for steps to support ailing Punjab Inc

Ludhiana: With the Union Budget all set to be announced on Friday, city businessmen are hoping new Union finance minister Nirmala Seetharaman will announce measures to support the ailing industry of Punjab.
According to businessmen, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) need special attention and focus of the government. They feel a special package for small industry should be introduced in addition to taking steps like increasing incentive rates for industry.
Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO) chairperson K K Seth said the Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, had some time ago approved changes for classifying MSME units and raised the turnover limit for micro enterprises to Rs 5 crore, but it was yet to be notified. “This is a pending demand of MSMEs; if fulfilled, it will help in ease-of-doing business. The government has suspended Credit Link Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS), and this is also causing a lot of problems and losses. We, therefore, demand that CLCSS be re-introduced as it provides subsidy on bank interest and, at the same time, banks should be instructed to facilitate the industry with CLCSS,” he said.
FICO president Gurmeet Kular said a technology upgrade fund scheme (TUFS) was the need of the hour for bicycle industry. “We are hoping the finance minister will approve this scheme in the Budget. The government should also introduce a banking system that will cater only to the MSME sector and provide it with loans and credit for not more than 8%, with simplified procedure and minimal documentation,” he said.
He said the MSME sector needed funds, but the process of getting credit from the current banking system was “very cumbersome” and rate of interest was also on the higher side. “So some mechanism, like an MSME bank, will simplify all this and boost business prospects,” he said.
FICO general secretary Manjinder Singh Sachdeva said the pesent income tax slab for private limited and limited companies with a turnover of up to Rs. 250 crore was 25%. “But there are a large number of MSMEs registered as proprietorships or partnerships, which come under 30% slab. They, too, should be brought in the 25% slab. Apart from this, there should be a freight subsidy for north Indian exporters whose units arev far from seaports, so they should be able to compete with those closer to seaports,” he said.