Not a very smooth year for MSMEs in Northeast, sector expect reinstatement of discontinued industrial package

New Delhi, Jan 3 (KNN) The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in north-eastern region of the country did not have a very smooth 2017 with the industry hit by discontinuation of industrial package along with the effects of new taxation, Federation of Industry & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER) informed.

Talking to KNN, R.S Joshi, Chairman of FINER said that the industry including both the large enterprises as well as the small enterprises were affected due to the discontinuation of the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) which was revoked in March 2017.

With no special package for the region, the investments paused trickling the impact downwards, so much so that the employment rates at the small and micro units also got impacted.

Although the government did announce that it is working towards a fresh framework for the region, an official notification is yet to come.

Echoing the concerns of other regions in the country, north east too suffered the pain in the early GST era, Joshi said.

While GST has been a work in progress, there are complications that continue to haunt the units, especially the micro and small units, Joshi said.

“The filing complications continue to create some level of discomfort among the small units” Joshi lamented.

However he acknowledged that the government has been engaged with the industry through dialogue and things might ease in the coming times.

The MSMEs expect government to come up with some big announcements, especially along the lines of bringing back the package that existed, at least for a period of five years to facilitate fresh investments that are on a halt, Joshi opined.

The northeaster region in India consists of states including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura that houses fair share of micro small and medium enterprises. (KNN/ DA)