Bhubaneswar:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday approved a stimulus package of Rs 289.42 crore for MSMEs that have been facing stiff challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, official sources said. The package includes assistance measures such as interest subvention, top-up subsidy, reimbursement of state GST and waiver of annual institutional maintenance charges.
The initiative will help entrepreneurs, mostly women and those from the weaker sections, to overcome unexpected challenges that came along with the pandemic, a senior official said. ”In ECLGS (Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme), 1,70,000 MSME units will reap the benefit of interest subvention. A sum of Rs 108.29 crore is being released to help 40 per cent of all women-run MSMEs,” the official said.
According to the recently amended industrial policy resolution (IPR) approved by the state cabinet, as many as 175 enterprises will be eligible for reimbursement of state GST for the period July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020. The waiver of annual institutional maintenance charge, which is payable by MSMEs and comes to around Rs 5.83 crore annually, will be borne by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, the official said.
Along with that, COVID-19 assistance package (CAP), launched by Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, will also provide relief to nano and micro enterprises, he added. PTI
