Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Thursday that the ₹3,434-crore aid package announced by the State government to rejuvenate the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) came with slashed interest on loans and waiver of ‘margin money’ credit for manufacturing businesses.
The State-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) would accord easy low-interest relief loans for entrepreneurs hoping to rebuild their business. The institutions would extend separate financial packages for those seeking to enhance their industrial infrastructure by acquiring machinery, land and other processes for manufacturing.
Investors in Kerala could also expect other incentives, including a moratorium on repayment of loans and an opportunity for one-time settlement of credit.
Kerala hoped the Centre would help States write off the “fixed charge” slapped on electricity consumers. The Centre had allocated ₹90,000 crore for rejuvenating the power sector. But, it mandated that States stand guarantee for the outlay.
The Centre had unreasonably directed that only the MSME sector employees who draw less than ₹15,000 as monthly salary would qualify for help to pay provided fund.
Just tokenism
He said the stimulus package announced by Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman contained no aid to prop the State’s crippled economy. The Centre’s investment in the relief package was mere tokenism. It had not committed any serious money to help States rejuvenate their respective economies. Mr. Vijayan hoped the Centre would rectify the anomalies pointed out by the States.
