Union Budget 2019 India: Presenting the maiden budget speech of Modi 2.0, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that under the interest subvention scheme for MSMEs, the government has allocated loans up to Rs 350 crore for 2019-20 for 2 per cent interest subvention to GST-registered MSMEs on fresh and or on incremental loans.
The minister proposed “Under the Interest Subvention Scheme for MSME, Rs 350 crore has been allocated for 2019-20 for 2 per cent interest subvention on fresh or on incremental loans,” in her speech.
The minister also said that the government will create a payment platform for SMEs to cut down time on filing bills and to make timely payments.
Since “government payments to suppliers and contractors are a major source of cash flow especially to MSMEs, investment in MSMEs will receive a big boost if these delays in payments are eliminated,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.
“There is a recognition that MSMEs have a very large role to play in making India a $5 trillion economy. Providing the right demand for their products and the supply of capital has been the focus of this budget,” said Sameer Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, RevFin
The government will also provide loans up to Rs 1 crore for MSMEs’ credit needs within 59 minutes through a dedicated online portal. The scheme was earlier announced by the former finance minister Piyush Goyal in this year’s interim budget.
The minister also talked about extending pension benefits to around 3 crore retail traders and small shopkeepers that have an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme.
“The payment platform of MSME will help in fast recovery of MSME dues. The availability of pension scheme to 3 crore
GST dealer will be a milestone for senior citizen,” Praveen Khandewal, secretary general, CAIT said in a statement.
With respect to easing the compliance burden on small businesses, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the threshold for presumptive taxation of businesses was raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore.
Source: financialexpress.com