FICO welcomes new definition of MSMEs but special relief package to industry missing

Ludhiana: Today Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister along with Anurag Thakur Minister of State for Finance; shared the first instalment of the mega Rs 20 lakh crore package with the focus being on the relief to the MSME sector. Finance Minister said that the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat rests on five pillars: Economy, Infrastructure, Technology-driven systems, Demography, and Demand. The focus will be on factors of production: Land, Labour, liquidity and Laws. The intention is to make local brands global. The Prime Minister had announced the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package that will focus on making India self-reliant during his national address on 12th May, 2020.
K.K. Seth Chairman along with Gurmeet Singh Kular President and Rajeev Jain General Secretary FICO (Federation of Industrial & Commercial Organization) welcomed the New definition: Micro units with investment till Rs 1 cr, turnover up to Rs 5 crore. Small units with investment till Rs 10 cr, turnover up to Rs 50 cr. Medium units with investment till Rs 20 cr, turnover up to Rs 100 crore.
K.K. Seth, Chairman, FICO said that there has been no reduction in the income tax slabs for partners/ proprietors. Neither the import duty has been reduced on machinery, nor the CLCSS has been enhanced. These points should have been covered while making the Aatam Nirbhar Package.
Gurmeet Singh Kular, President, FICO said that there was a need for the special turnover package for the trade and industry which is the backbone of the Indian economy. It was expected that an introduce of a turnover based special package which should be dependent on GST Sales Return of Financial Year 2019-20, the package should be introduced providing 25% relief to the micro Sector, 20% to The Small Sector, 15% to Medium Sector & 10% to the Large Sector. Moreover, the government has facilitated the industry with collateral free loans, even the existing schemes like CGTSME (Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises) are not easily approachable by the MSMEs as the guidelines are very strict to follow.
Rajeev Jain, General Secretary, FICO said that the Statutory The government has EPF contribution for all organizations and their employees covered by EPFO has been reduced to 10% from 12% earlier, only for 3 months, but has to be done on permanent basis./(May 13)