- Finance minister has announced several measures to provide some relief to Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) sector.
- Finance Minister has announced that all pending Goods and Services tax(GST) dues for the MSME sector shall be cleared within 30 days.In the future,all such dues would be cleared within 60 days of application.
- Further,the banks will issue improved (one-time settlement) OTS policy to help MSME and retail borrowers settle their overdues.This will help in increasing transparency, reduce harassment as well as assist in improving turnaround time for customers.
- The government has also planned to amend the MSME Act to provide a single, holistic definition for MSMEs.
- The MSMEs are small sized entities defined in terms of their size of investment. Currently, MSMEs are classified in terms of investment made in plant and machinery if they are operating in the manufacturing sector and investment in equipment for service sector companies.
- However,MSME (Amendment) Bill,2018 which has not been passed yet proposes a uniform classification for all MSMEs.Under the Bill,all MSMEs whether they are manufacturing or service-providing enterprises will be classified on the basis of their annual turnover.
