Election 2019: Finance is the key issue for Tamil Nadu MSMEs concerns; want new govt to work on this

New Delhi, Apr 9 (KNN) As General Elections 2019 are just few weeks away, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector which has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy over the last five decades has been facing various challenges in the state of Tamil Nadu.

While sharing the challenges faced by MSME entrepreneurs and their expectation from the new government, various MSME associations from the state told KNN India that due to different issues in the sector MSMEs have been performing comparatively low.

While sharing the concerns Hosur Small and Tiny Industries Association, Ex-Secretary, D.V Ramesh who is also an entrepreneur said that the sales within past three years have been comparatively very low. The reason behind it is the improper implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“We expect that the implementation of GST should be done in a proper way as it highly affects small and tiny industries,” he said.

Speaking more about the issue of GST, Ramesh said, “We buy raw materials at 18% GST rate but the manufacturers sell it at the rate of 28%. This difference of 10% is a huge problem.”

Sharing his expectations from the government he said, “Another issue that we expect from the upcoming new government to take care of is the problem of delayed payments.”

He added, “MSMEs do not get payments for very long period of time, sometime the time period extends 120 days by the customer.”

Speaking about another issue for industries in South he said that, “The cost of living for business is increasing very speedily which makes it very difficult for any MSME to survive in such an environment.”

Madurai District Small Scale Industries Association, Secretary, K.S Serma Pandiyan said, “We expect the government to give industries of south hand-holding support as we feel lack of government support in the state.”

Talking about financial issues faced by MSMEs he said, “MSMEs of South require financial assistance for the operations from the government.”

Speaking about another issue he said, “The renewal of license is also other huge issue which we want government to keep a check on and make it easier for MSMEs to get their license renewed.”

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association, President, K V B Prasad said, “Tiny industries earlier called as small industries are suffering a lot in the business environment today.”

He said that the small industries are not able to grow because of no financial support from banks and other financial institutions.

Speaking further he said, “Due to issues of collateral security, RBI does not sanction loan to MSMEs the entire year, and in March the banks hunt for SMEs to complete their goal.”

Sharing his expectations he said, “So I expect a uniform policy from the government to solve the issue of loans for MSMEs.”

The 2019 Indian general elections are due to be held in India between April and May 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha.

The general election in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 18, 2019. (KNN/JM)