For the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, 2018 remained a year characterised by a rather challenging business environment, the Government on Wednesday came out with a report card on what it has done for the sector.
Released by the Finance Ministry, the communication sought to highlight the key achievements, measures taken and the proactive nature of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The MSME sector which has been hit hard by demonetisation and by the haphazard implementation of GST, is a crucial vote bank and with 2019 general elections around the corner, the government wants to get the right message across.
Access to Credit
The biggest achievement for the government here was the launch of the 59-minute loan portal to enable easy access to credit for MSMEs. During the launch Modi said loans upto Rs 1 crore can now be granted in-principle approval through a dedicated portal launched for this purpose.
Bringing relief to GST compliant MSMEs, Modi had further announced a two-percent interest subvention for all GST registered MSMEs, on fresh or incremental loans. To help ease working capital woes of exporting fraternity, Modi also announced an increase in interest rebate from three percent to five percent for exporters who receive loans in the pre-shipment and post-shipment period.
