The
Union Budget announced Friday reaffirmed its commitment to major announcements by the Prime Minister in November 2018 for the Sector. Government’s continued commitment to bring down the cost of credit and improve access to finance for the Sector is evident in this year’s budget.
Major announcements in this area are:
In new announcements, the Budget mentions the creation of a
Social Stock Exchange to improve access to capital for social enterprises and voluntary organizations. This is a laudable initiative by the Government and will further facilitate the growth of the thriving social sector ecosystem in the country. Government support to this ecosystem will bring increased convergence and collaboration towards creating greater social impact.
Another related announcement emphasising support to micro and social enterprises is boosting support to integration of traditional artisans with the global market including necessary support in the form of
GI tags and patents. This announcement recognises the fact that artisans and MSMEs in rural areas require more support. With increasing focus on sustainability, zero carbon footprint at the global level – there is an immense scope for our artisans, social enterprises and rural MSMEs to capture new markets and build a sustainable source of income for those at the bottom of pyramid
Another new announcement and a major one is the announcement of pension for traders with turnover less than Rs 1.5 crore with a potential to impact around 3 crore traders in the country.
Other announcements around continued policy support to build electric vehicles ecosystem and attracting investments to build mega manufacturing centres in solar photovoltaic cell, lithium ion storage batteries etc will help mushrooming of MSMEs in sunrise sectors. Announcements related to simplifying the GST return filing process is also expected to help the sector.
(Amar Shankar is, Partner – Economic Development, Advisory, and Shobhit Mathur, Director – Advisory at EY.)