Odisha Govt To Fully Reimburse Interest On Working Capital Of MSMEs, Says Minister

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to fully reimburse the interest on the working capital availed from banks by manufacturing MSMEs upto Rs 10 lakh.

This was stated by Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister Pratap Keshari Deb on Tuesday at a press conference in Bhubaneswar on the provisions of Budget 2023-24 for his department.

“As per a new scheme introduced in financial year 2023-24, interest on Working Capital loan availed from banks by manufacturing MSMEs and manufacturing exporters where cash credit (pre shipment/packing credit in case of export) limit is upto Rs 10 lakh, will be fully reimbursed by the government,” he said.

In case of the cash credit limit above Rs 10 lakh and upto Rs 3 crore, the interest on working capital will be reimbursed upto 25%. The reimbursement amount will be credited to the bank account of the beneficiary industrial units directly in DBT mode half-yearly. The tentative expenditure under this scheme will be Rs 150-200 crores in FY 2023-24, he added.

In the FY 2022-23, subsidies amounting to Rs 9.09 crore has been disbursed to 272 enterprises towards interest on term loan, reimbursement of net SGST, employment cost subsidy (ECS) and quality assistance under provisions of Industrial Policy Resolution against Budget provision of Rs 20 crore. In the FY 2023-24, there is a Budget provision of Rs 15 crore under this scheme, said the Minister.

Stating that the budget of the department has increased from Rs 96.80 crore in FY 2017-18 to Rs 570.35 crore in 2023-24, Deb said MSME is the second largest sector after Agriculture in providing employment opportunities.

Narrating some major schemes and programmes of MSME Department, he said in the current FY i.e. 2022-23 about 98 Micro & Small Enterprises have been sanctioned CIS worth Rs 20 crore under Odisha MSMED Policy. In the FY 2023-24, there is a Budget Provision of Rs 25 crore under this scheme.

Further, there is a Budget provision of Rs 20 crore towards CIS for food processing enterprises under Odisha Food Processing Policy (OFPP) 2013 & OFPP 2016.

He also said total 311 startups have been recognised and monthly allowance granted to 54 recognised startups. Product Development and Marketing Assistance (PDMA) grant to 20 startups and need based assistance to two incubators have been disbursed.

As per the government decision for establishment of MSME Park in district, Rs 100 crore has been released to IDCO in this regard. Under the scheme, SIBDI will finance 90% of the project cost and MSME department will finance the balance 10%. The projects are implemented through IDCO.

Saswat Mishra, principal secretary, MSME department said a provision of Rs 11.40 crore has been made for the FY 2023-24 under this scheme towards State share. Establishment of Common Facility Centres for
Rice Mill Cluster at Balasore and Engineering cluster at Cuttack with assistance under Ministry of MSME and Odisha government is being implemented through OSIC Ltd.

Md Siddique Alam, Director, Industries along with senior officials of MSME department were present in the press meet.