Revising the Definition of MSMEs: Who is Likely to Benefit From it?

  • PDF / 636,057 Bytes
  • 8 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
  • 73 Downloads / 164 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT


Revising the Definition of MSMEs: Who is Likely to Benefit From it? R. Nagaraj1 · Vikash Vaibhav1 Published online: 11 October 2020 © Indian Society of Labour Economics 2020

1 Introduction Until recently, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), registered with the concerned government agencies, have been defined in terms of investment in plant and machinery, as mentioned in panel A of Table 1. The registration is the eligibility for availing government promotional assistance, as listed in Table 2. On March 25, economic lockdown was imposed to tackle COVID-19. Expectedly, the decision has severely hurt jobs and livelihoods, especially in the informal sector. To mitigate the hardships, the Prime Minister proposed Rs. 20 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat stimuli and relief package. On May 13, the Finance Minister (FM) announced the measures for the MSME sector. A prominent item in it was the much awaited revision of the criteria for registration as an MSME, which is as follows: 1. Abolition of the distinction between manufacturing and services enterprise. 2. Raising the upper limits for investment in plant and machinery to qualify as an MSME. 3. Introducing  “turnover” as an additional criterion. Panel B of Table 1 has the revised definitions. The most significant revision is the increase in the investment limit for medium-sized enterprises, from Rs. 10 crores to Rs.50 crore. The following are other incentives included in the FM’s economic package:1 1. Rs. 3 lakh crore emergency working capital facility for businesses, including MSMEs, 2. Rs. 20,000 crore subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs, 1

  https​://pib.gov.in/Press​Reles​eDeta​ilm.aspx?PRID=16236​01 (Accessed on 15 June 2020)

* R. Nagaraj [email protected] 1



IGIDR, Mumbai, India

13

Vol.:(0123456789) ISLE

S120

The Indian Journal of Labour Economics (2020) 63 (Suppl 1):S119–S126

Table 1  MSME definitions

Panel A

Panel B

Old definition (Inv.)

New definition (mfg & ser.)

Mfg.

Services

Investment

Turnover

Micro

25 L

10 L

1 cr.

5 cr.

Small

5 cr.

2 cr.

10 cr.

50 cr.

Medium

10 cr.

5 cr.

50 cr.

250 cr.

As per the new definition, an enterprise qualifies as MSME only if it satisfies both the criteria

Table 2  Benefits of MSME registration. Source: Ministry of MSME, RBI (2019) Collateral free loans from banks

Ease of getting licenses, approvals and registrations

Reservation policies to manufacturing 1 production Special consideration on international trade fairs sector Octroi benefits

Waiver of stamp duty and registration fees

Exemption under Direct Tax Laws

Bar code registration subsidy

Subsidy on NSIC Performance and Credit ratings

Eligibility for IPS subsidy

Counter Guarantee from Government of India through CGSTI

Protection against delay in payment

Reduction in rate of interest from banks

15% CLCSS subsidy to purchase fully

Waiver in security deposit in government

Concession in electricity bills

Reimbursement of ISO Certification

Excise Exemption Scheme

Preference in procuring from government

P15% weightage in price p