Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy sanctioned ₹ 905 crore for paying incentives which are due since 2014-15 to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to help them overcome the impact of the lockdown on their meagre finances.
Mr. Jagan ordered that half of that sum be remitted in May and the balance in June.
Another significant relief measure okayed by him at a review meeting on the MSME sector on Thursday was a working capital infusion (for MSME) of ₹200 crore with minimum interest.
Besides, the Chief Minister gave the nod for waiving power demand charges amounting to ₹188 crore for three months (April-June) and deferring the minimum demand charges payable by large industries for the same period as above (April-June) along with exemption from penalties or any additional charges.
The total outstanding incentives include ₹ 828 crore pending from 2014-15 to 2018-19 and ₹77 crore for 2019-20.
According to an official release, the decisions will benefit 72,531 micro, 24,252 small and 645 medium industries respectively which have a total employee strength of 9,68,269.
The fund for working capital is being raised from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
Heavy units next
While paying off the dues to MSME, the government is working out a plan to clear the arrears for large and heavy industries such as textile units and extend assistance to industries across the board, with due priority to MSMEs after the Central government takes a call on the proposed financial package.
A high -level review meeting would be held in that regard soon.
Minister for Industries Mekapati Goutham Reddy, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Special Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce) R. Karikal Valaven and Commissioner of Industries J.V.N. Subrahmanyam were among those present.