New Delhi, Aug 7 (KNN) Indian Industries Association (IIA) took up the issue of delayed payment with MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In a meeting which was called to understand the issues and problems of MSME by the senior Ministers in the Union Cabinet, President of IIA Pankaj Kumar demanded the law for recovery of delayed payment should be made strict. On this demand Gadkari said that his Ministry will come out with an effective solution to the problem soon.

The payments for the supplies made by MSMEs to the buyers are generally delayed and more so the delay is too long by the Government Departments/Undertakings.

This results in shortage of working capital in MSMEs causing their Sickness. Though MSME Development Act-2006 provides a remedy for delayed payments yet it is not effective.

Revival and rehabilitation of MSMEs is not happening in the country. Banks do not monitor incipient sickness and when the MSMEs are declared NPA they force MSME for One Time Settlement rather than their revival or rehabilitation, said IIA.

For solving this problem he recommended that in the Rehabilitation Committee constituted by the Banks, a representative of MSME Association should essentially be a member.

At the same time the State Level Inter Institutional Committee (SLIIC) which was operational in all the states in the past but is inoperative now should be revived for solving the problems of working capital, implementation of special schemes and sickness in MSME sector.

Under Credit Guarantee Trust for MSME Scheme the loans are generally are not available to the Micro and Small Enterprises and in isolated cases it is available at higher rate of interest. This has defeated the purpose of the scheme itself said President IIA in the meeting.

He urged the Ministers to get the scheme implemented properly for the benefit of Micro and Small Enterprises.

Apart from this he submitted representation on GST threshold limit, GST Composition Scheme, GST Refunds, Labour Laws for MSMEs, Input Tax Credit, Ease of Doing Business, Technology & Innovations in MSMEs and the Problem of closure of Industries in NCR Region due to various reasons.

Anurag Thakur Minister of State for Finance and Secretaries of both the Ministries were also present in the meeting. President IIA submitted 14 major issues pertaining to MSMEs in the meeting.