New Delhi, Feb 13 (KNN) Ahead of the upcoming mega event in the state, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) units in Saharanpur involved in the handicraft sector are eyeing at big announcement from the UP CM yogi Adityanath at the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit.

Talking to KNN, Ravinder Miglani, a Saharanpur based wooden handicraft exporter explained that in the recent times the ecosystem is not very friendly when it comes to export of handicrafts.

Ravinder further said that the wooden handicrafts from Saharanpur are famous for its quality not only in India but aboard, despite this the sector is not performing the way it should.

Listing possible initiatives that the government may introduce, Ravinder said that the state must come up with lucrative schemes to enhance exports.

The process of obtaining import license was an easier task earlier, but it has become a tedious process, the government may consider revamping the mechanism for an easier business environment, he added.

“Also the incentives that were given earlier on exports earlier helped the sector, but with the tax regime changing, the incentives have been reduced, discouraging exports”.

Another important announcement the government may come up with could be reinstating the earlier existing export incentives.

“Duty drawback under the previous taxation stood at 5 per cent which is now at 1.9 per cent, though we have been given assurance that the GST ITC refund will be provided to the exporters, but it is yet to happen”, he added.

Citing numbers, Ravinder informed that Saharanpur alone houses over 150-200 tiny and micro units involved in wooden handicraft sector providing employment to over 1.5-2 lakh citizens.

“The sector being labour intensive, the government should consider boosting the sector, that could generation of employment as well as growth of the economy”.

The upcoming UP Investors Summit is to be inaugurated at 1100 hours on February 21 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while during the valedictory session President Ramnath Kovind would be the chief guest and Union Finance minister Arun Jatiely will be the chief speaker.

The 11 key areas are being identified for investments namely civil aviation, IT-enabled services, dairy, electronics manufacturing, tourism, MSME, infrastructure, renewable energy, films, handloom/textile, and agro/food processing. (KNN/DA)