As informed by Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), as part of the ‘Start-up India’ initiatives the Government has provisioned the following financial assistance and incentives for start-ups across the country including in the state of Tamilnadu:
- Start-up India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)
- Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) Scheme
- Ease of Procurement
- Income Tax Exemption for 3 years
- Exemption for the Purpose Of Clause (VII)(b) of Sub-section (2) of Section 56 of the Act
- National Start-up Awards
As informed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), SIDBI has entered into a collaboration with Google India Private Limited (GIPL) on November 18, 2021, for having a pilot social impact lending program with a corpus of approx. Rs. 110 crore (equivalent to USD $15 million) targeted at Micro-enterprises with a turnover up to Rs.5.00 crore.
As informed by SIDBI, the following programs were launched by SIDBI to help and revive the MSME sector across the country including the State of Tamilnadu:
- Special Liquidity Facility for MSMEs:– In April 2020, RBI provided special refinance facilities for a total amount of Rs. 50,000 crore to NABARD, SIDBI, and NHB to enable them to meet sectoral credit needs, of which SIDBI received Rs. 15,000 crore to continue lending to MSMEs.
In April 2021, another tranche of Rs. 15,000 crore was granted by RBI to meet the funding requirements of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in FY 2022.
- Initiatives under Direct Finance: – Direct Lending operations of the Bank primarily focus on ensuring uninterrupted flow of credit to MSMEs, especially to those engaged in fighting the pandemic.
- Cluster Development: – The Bank has launched the SIDBI Cluster Development Fund (SCDF) of Rs. 6,990 crore to support the State Governments / State Government sponsored Organizations to attend to cluster development from both soft and hard infrastructure.
- Financing micro-entrepreneurs:- The b PRAYAAS Initiative of the Bank is aimed to facilitate access to low-cost finance for micro-entrepreneurs/ micro-enterprises, in the “Missing Middle Segment” by providing loans ranging from Rs. 0.50 lakh to Rs. 5.00 lakh at a cheaper rate through Partner Institutions.
- Virtual Ecosystem:- The Udyamimitra Portal of the Bank is a universal digital platform that aims to provide end-to-end solutions for not only credit delivery but also a host of credit-plus services by way of handholding support to the MSMEs.
- Implementing PMSVA Nidhi:– The Scheme was announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India to facilitate working capital loans up to Rs. 10,000 to provide financial aid to Street vendors during the situation of COVID-19 pandemic.
- Digital Lending to MSMEs:– PSBLoansin59minutes is the first contactless lending platform for MSMEs developed under a consortium of PSBs led by SIDBI.
- Swavalamban Connect Kendra (SCKs):- The Bank under its umbrella program “Mission Swavalamban” has initiated the setting up of 100 SCKs in 100 districts across 5 states viz., U.P., Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha & Telangana.
- Swavalamban Crisis Responsive Fund (SCRF):- The Bank has set up SCRF with the support of FCDO, Govt. of United Kingdom, to support the free onboarding of MSMEs on the TReDS platform.
The Ministry of MSME implements various schemes and programs for the growth and development of the MSME Sector in the country including Tamil Nadu. These schemes and programs include Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), A Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry & Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE), Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises, Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP).
Post Covid-19, the Government has taken a number of initiatives under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to support the MSME Sector in the country especially in the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of them are:
i) Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for MSMEs.
ii) Rs. 3 lakh crores Collateral free Automatic Loans for business, including MSMEs. The limit of Rs. 3.00 Lakh Crore has been enhanced to Rs 4.5 lakh crore.
iii) Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds (Self Reliant India Fund).
iv) Newly revised criteria for the classification of MSMEs.
v) New Registration of MSMEs through ‘Udyam Registration’ for Ease of Doing Business.
vi) No global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crores, this will help MSME.
An online Portal “Champions” has been launched on 01.06.2020 by Prime Minister.