Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approves 25% subsidy for new units making medical equipment

To encourage new industries to manufacture Covid-19 medical equipment, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday approved a scheme to provide a subsidy of 25 per cent or Rs 10 crore, whichever is lower, of the total expenditure.

“Under the scheme, production of items like liquid medical oxygen, regulators, ventilators, cryogenic tankers and hospital beds will be allowed to avail the subsidy. The step has been taken because there is a need to increase the speed of production of Covid-related essential medical goods,” said a government spokesperson.

Under the “UP COVID Emergency Financial Support Scheme”, a minimum investment requirement of Rs 20 lakh has been fixed to set up the unit. A revolving fund will be established for providing the financial aid.

The scheme will be available for a year after the order. All NOCs and permits can be granted within 72 hours under the UP MSME Act, said the spokesperson.

“All the NOCs and permission from Pollution Control Board, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and Drug Control Organisation will be provided in a fast-track mode. To get the benefits, applicants will need to submit their application to scheduled commercial banks or SIDBI, which will forward the application to the district units,” said the spokesperson.

He informed that the application, after approval from committees headed by district magistrates, will be sent to the Department of MSME & Export Promotion.

Officials said that a state-level executive committee will be set up and headed by the additional chief secretary or principal Secretary of the Department of MSME & Export Promotion. The commissioner and director (Industries) will be a member of the committee and will forward the application to the executive committee for the final approval.