Bengaluru, Oct 3 (KNN) In the last six months with the continues sliding of rupee the raw material import bills of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Karnataka have increased around 20 to 25 per cent.

As per a report by The Hindu, import activities of the MSME community in Karnataka has been adversely affected owing to the fresh record low hit by the Indian rupee against the dollar.

Several raw materials such as metal sheets and metal wires, industrial paints, chemicals, engineering and electric items, machine tools and automotive items are used by approximately 5,000 MSMEs in the state for the factories and small production units.

According to K.N. Narasimha Murthy, president, Kassia, “The import bills of these companies have gone up substantially with the fall of rupee. They are now paying at least Rs 84 or even more per dollar value of imports. This is certainly not a viable scenario. Some firms have stopped imports and currently facing production issues.”

There has also been an increase in the duty and transaction charges as the quantum of money involved has increased, bank transaction charges have risen too.

“Small and medium manufacturers are caught in a cascade of issues with regard to the import, this is when they are already facing other existential crisis,” he added.

To the increase the market cost of their final products in the local markets and export markets is the main focus of MSMEs as the production cost has gone up.

Many MSMEs are also slowing or shutting down due to shortage of raw materials as they are unable to import at higher cost.  (KNN Bureau)