New Delhi, Mar 13 (KNN) With the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal led Assam government proposing the budget yesterday, the industry comprising primarily of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have welcomed the budget and is eyeing at the new outlay with hope for economic growth.

Talking to KNN, R.S Joshi, Chairman of Federation of Industry & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER) said that the budget on an overall note is a fair one and it has taken into consideration the long pending demands of the MSME sector.

“The budget makes a good case for the MSME sector, also on an overall outlook, the document comes as a comprehensive one”, Joshi said.

Following are the key features of the budget with respect to the MSME sector.

MSME Credit Guarantee Scheme

Emphasizing the role of the micro, small and medium enterprises in the region’s economic growth, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Finance Minister of Assam during his budget speech said that the MSME sector is on the priority list of his office.

“Despite huge potential, it has been seen that it is not easy for MSMEs to secure loans from major banks because they are usually unable to provide necessary collaterals. At the same time, the risk perception of the lending agencies has to be addressed too so that loans may be given to MSMEs without fear of NPA”, he said.

The Minister proposed in addition to the 20% reservation for local MSME products in all Government tenders and 25% preferential pricing that the state cabinet recently approved, he presented a new scheme called ‘MSME Credit Guarantee Scheme’, wherein an amount of Rs. 100 crore will be parked in a Credit Guarantee fund, which will act as a guarantee in case of failure of a project.

The guarantee will cover up to 50% of the loan amount taken from scheduled commercial banks & RRBs for loans up to Rs.50 Lakh. Both existing and new MSMEs can avail the benefit.

Responding to the announced provision, Joshi said that this comes as a very good initiative of the government. Though the initial corpus looks small, but it is likely to increase and bear favourable results, he added.

Skill Development Schemes

Joshi said that the government has taken into consideration the Prebudget memorandum sent by different organizations and therefore skill development schemes introduced by the government is to impact positive for the state.  

Joshi further said that considering that the budget is a maiden one post GST, it balances well between the needs of the industry as well as other stakeholders of the region. (KNN/DA)