NEW DELHI: The MSME fraternity welcomed the pro-sector measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the first Budget of NDA 2.0 government. In her maiden speech, Sitharaman highlighted the need to invest towards job creation in small and medium enterprises. The major highlight of this year’s budget included an allocation of Rs 350 crore for 2 per cent interest subvention for all GST-registered MSMEs on fresh as well as incremental loans, and the launch of a dedicated payment platform for MSMEs where they can upload the bills and process payments.
Experts say it was important to bring down payment timing for MSMEs from large companies as most in the sector face liquidity crunch. The move will help in credit flow at competitive costs. “The capital support and creation of a payment platform for MSMEs will lead to more jobs and income to households as well as increase in productive capacity and consumption,” said Rakesh Singh, CEO, Aditya Birla Finance.
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Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group, said, “As the government continues to push for Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs, we at Flipkart Marketplace will be happy to continue connecting millions of MSME sellers, manufacturers and artisans with consumers efficiently and in a cost-effective manner.”
Another sop was the extension of pension benefits to about three crore retail traders and small shopkeepers with an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Maandhan Scheme. Enrolment for the scheme will require only Aadhaar and a bank account.