New Delhi, Oct 10 (KNN) With the government announcing the scheme of budgetary support under Goods and Service Tax regime to the units located, the industrial sector of the state comprising of a fair share of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have expressed discontent over the structure of the notification.

Federation of Industries Jammu (FOIJ) in a press statement said that the sector is not happy with the notification issued by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India wherein scheme of budgetary support under Goods and Service Tax regime to the units located in state of Jammu & Kashmir has been announced.

FOIJ informed that all the protective provisions and incentives that were available prior to the implementation of GST regime have been abruptly simultaneously withdrawn resulting in dilution of fiscal incentives available to the entire population of MSME units.

FOIJ further said that the units which were covered under notification no. 01-2010 factored this incentive for a period of ten years from the date of production / substantial expansion.

Now this notification abruptly reduces both the quantum and time period and is a clear-cut case of ‘promissory estoppel’ by the Government of India, the press statement added.

FOIJ explained that the fiscal incentives that were made available to entrepreneurs in Jammu and Kashmir were entirely different from those available to industries in Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand.

Citing Notification, FOIJ said that the notification No. 01-2010 dated 06-02-2010 was alive in J&K and all those units which would have been established up to the year 2020 and those existing units which undertook substantial expansion were entitled to fiscal incentives for additional 10 years from their corresponding date of production.

By equating with the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand, all eligible units in J&K have been divested of their bonafide rights and claims.

With such ignorance by the government towards the sector, the MSMEs will find no other way out and might have to shut down their operations, FOIJ feared, since the notification completely excludes new industries, existing industries from expanding and all existing small industries working under exemption. (KNN/DA)