TIRUCHY: The Tamil Nadu Boilers Association has urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to announce a comprehensive revival package for stressed MSME engineering units, citing years of recession, the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, mounting debt burdens and delayed payments from customers.
In a letter sent to the chief minister last week, the association sought measures to revive closed units, improve access to bank credit, facilitate restructuring of non-performing assets (NPAs), ensure timely payments to MSMEs and increase outsourcing of work from BHEL Tiruchy to local engineering industries. It also requested a GST amnesty scheme, including waiver of penalties, filing of pending returns without fine and payment of arrears in instalments.
The association said Tiruchy's engineering sector is witnessing signs of recovery after nearly a decade of sluggish growth. With BHEL Tiruchy's order book reaching record levels, the public sector undertaking is expected to significantly scale up production and increase outsourcing opportunities for ancillary industries.
However, the association noted that the prolonged downturn had severely affected the MSME ecosystem. Of the nearly 450 engineering MSME units that once operated in and around Tiruchy, only about 150 remain functional, while the rest are either closed, under financial stress or classified as NPAs by banks.
"After nearly ten years of recession and setbacks, many units are struggling to return to normal operations. At a time when business opportunities are improving, the government should support these industries in rebuilding their capacities," said association president Rajappa Rajkumar.
Stating that delayed payments from customers had left many firms unable to meet statutory obligations, he said several units had accumulated GST arrears despite being willing to resume operations.