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Finance Strategy

MSME Ministry Rolls Out New Guidelines for Pottery, Beekeeping Activities to Rejuvenate Grass Root Economy in India

Pottery (Photo Credits: Pexels)

The Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) on Thursday announced new guidelines for two more schemes which include ‘Pottery Activity’ and ‘Beekeeping Activity’. The Ministry said that for pottery activity, the government will provide assistance of pottery wheel, clay blunger, and granulator. A total of 6,075 traditional and others (non-traditional) pottery artisans/rural unemployed youth or migrant labourers will be benefited from this scheme. “It will also provide wheel pottery training for traditional pottery artisans and Press Pottery training for pottery as well as non-pottery artisans in Self Help Groups,” it added.

The Ministry had few days back announced expanding and doubling the support to Artisans who might be interested in making Agarbatti. These new initiatives of the Ministry with beneficiary oriented Self-Employment schemes, are aimed at rejuvenating the grass root economy contributing to Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

  1. For ‘Pottery Activity’ Government will provide assistance of pottery wheel, Clay Blunger, Granulator etc.
  2. It will also provide Wheel Pottery Training for traditional pottery artisans and Press Pottery training for pottery as well as non-pottery artisans in Self Help Groups.
  3. There is also provision to provide Jigger-Jolly training programme for pottery as well as non-pottery artisan in Self Help Groups.

In case of the Pottery improvements in the Scheme are:

  • Skill-development training on focused products like garden pots, cooking-wares, khullad, water bottles, decorator products, mural, etc. to SHGs of pottery-artisans has been introduced
  • Focus of the new Scheme is to enhance the production, technical know-how of pottery artisans and efficiency of potter energy kilns to reduce cost of production
  • Efforts will be made to develop necessary market linkages by tying up with exports and large buying houses

For ‘Beekeeping Activity’:

  1. In case of the Scheme for ‘Beekeeping Activity’, the government will provide assistance of Bee boxes, Tool kits etc.
  2. Under this scheme, Bee boxes, with Bee colonies, will also be distributed to Migrant workers in Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan (PMGKRA) districts.
  3. A 5 days’ beekeeping training will also be provided to the beneficiaries through various Training Centres /State Beekeeping Extension Centres/ Master Trainers as per prescribed syllabus.

A total of 6,075 traditional and others (non-traditional) pottery artisans/Rural Un-employed youth/Migrant Labourers will get benefitted from this Scheme. As Financial support for the year 2020-21, an amount of Rs.19.50 crore will be expended to support 6,075 artisans with a Centre of Excellence, with MGIRI, Wardha, CGCRI, Khurja, VNIT, Nagpur and suitable IIT/NID/ NIFT etc, for product development, advance skill programme, and quality standardization of products.

Additional amount of Rs 50.00 crore has been provisioned for setting up of clusters in Terracotta, Red clay pottery, with new innovative value added products to build pottery to crockery/ tile making capabilities, under ‘ SFURTI’ scheme of the Ministry.

To begin with, Scheme proposes to cover, during 2020-21, a total of 2,050 Beekeepers, Entrepreneurs, Farmers, Unemployed Youth, Adivasis will get benefitted from these projects/programme.

For this purpose a financial support of Rs 13 crore during 2020-21 has been provisioned to support 2,050 artisans ( 1250 people from Self Help Groups and 800 Migrant labourers), with a Centre of Excellence with CSIR/ IIT Or other Top class Institute to develop honey based new value added products. Additional amount of Rs. 50.00 crore has also been kept for developing Beekeeping honey clusters under the ‘ SFURTI scheme of the Ministry.

It may be recalled that the initiative to rejuvenate Agarbatti making at grass-root level few days back, is a step which also directed towards make India Aatmnirbhar in supply of this household consumption item. The interventions include the support to the artisans through training, raw material, innovation in the fragrance & packaging, use of new / alternate raw materials, marketing and financial support.

The program will immediately benefit about 1500 artisans, in providing sustainable employment with increased earnings. Artisans living in rural areas, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and ‘Migrant workers’ will particularly benefit from the program. In addition to enhancing employment opportunities locally, the programme will also help in capturing the export market in such products.

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Finance MSME

Indian Banks Have Sanctioned Rs 1.63 Lakh Crore Loans to MSMEs Under ECLGS, Says Finance Ministry

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 13: The Union Finance Ministry on Sunday said that Indian banks have sanctioned loans worth over Rs 1.63 lakh crore to MSMEs and other eligible businesses so far. These loans have been sanctioned under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for over 42 lakh borrowers and till now over Rs 1.18 lakh crore has been disbursed, the Ministry added.

Informing about the sanctioned status, the Union Finance Ministry took said in a statement, “As on 10.09.2020, as reported by Public Sector Banks and top 23 private sector banks, additional credit amounting to Rs 1,63,226.49 crore has been sanctioned to 42,01,576 borrowers. Amount of Rs 1,18,138.64 crore has been disbursed to 25,01,999 borrowers as on 10.09.2020.”

Laying down the progress of the schemes announced under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package in May, the Union Ministry said that around 37 proposals involving an amount of Rs 10,590 crore have been approved under the Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs, housing finance companies and micro-finance institutions till September 11. Adding more, it said, six more applications seeking financing of Rs 783.5 crore are under process.

On the Rs 30,000 crore Additional Emergency Working Capital Funding for farmers through NABARD, the ministry said that as on August 28, 2020, Rs 25,000 crore has been disbursed. The balance amount of Rs 5,000 crore under the Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) has been allocated to NABARD by the RBI for smaller NBFCs and NBFC-MFIs. Also, ANABARD is finalising operational guidelines to roll it out soon.

Apart from this, the Centre said that NABARD has also launched Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee scheme in collaboration with two agencies and banks to help unrated NBFCs and MFIs to get credit from lenders. The mechanism will enhance eligibility of credit by 5-6 times to those small MFIs who do not have any rating.

Among other details, the ministry said that refunds of over Rs 1.01 lakh crore have been issued to more than 27.55 lakh taxpayers between April 1, 2020, and September 8, 2020. Also, income tax refunds of Rs 30,768 crore have been issued in 25,83,507 cases and corporate tax refunds of Rs 70,540 crore have been issued in 1,71,155 cases. The ministry said that all corporate tax refunds up to Rs 50 crore have been issued in all cases.

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Finance Startup

iStandup 2.0: ICICI Bank Launches Dedicated Offering for StartUps in India, Offers Current Account in 3 Variants

ICICI Bank. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
ICICI Bank. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Mumbai, September 12: India’s second-largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Thursday launched a news offering — iStandup 2.0. With this new offering, ICICI is aiming to catch hold on the growing number of startups in the country. Though the new improved features, its customers will get a current account in three variants, offering additional features.

Under the iStandup 2.O, the ICICI bank offers premium savings accounts for the promoters, salary accounts for employees and a dedicated relationship manager. For its effective reach, ICICI has tied up with vendors to offer a ‘concierge-like’ service. This will enable the startups to access various services like company registration, taxation, compliance, logistics, facility management, staffing and digital marketing.

On the issue, the charges of the account, ICICI bank’s Head of Self-Employment Segment Pankaj Gadgil said that the bank will waive average quarterly balance requirement on the current account for a year. Adding more, he said that around 20,000 startups were registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in July 2020, which went up in August 2020. Since the trends are encouraging, the bank launched the new offering.

As per details, all the startups — up to 10 years old — including partnerships, private and public limited as well as limited liability partnerships, will be able to opt for current account. It is to be known that ICICI bank already serves an undisclosed number of startups as part of earlier offering and other offerings that also include a current account.

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E-Commerce Finance MSME

Khadi’s E-Market Portal Empowers Local Artisans Through ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ Initiative, Sells Their Products to Remotest Parts of India

Khadi's E-Market Portal
Khadi's E-Market Portal.

New Delhi, September 9: With just two months of launching the KVIC E-Portal, Khadi and Village Industry Commission’s (KVIC) venture into the online marketing segment has quickly established a pan-India reach. The portal — www.kviconline.gov.in/khadimask/ — has enabled the artisans to sell their products to the remotest parts of India. Currently, the KVIC E-Portal sells over 180 products and many more are in the pipeline.

Aiming to appeal Indians go ‘Vocal for Local’, KVIC has a list of products range including hand-spun and hand-woven fine fabric like Muslin, Silk, Denim and Cotton, Unisex Vichar Vastra by Ritu Beri, Khadi’s Signature Wrist Watch, a variety of honey, Herbal and Green Tea, Herbal Medicines and Soaps, Papad, Kacchi Ghani Mustard Oil and a range of herbal cosmetics among many others.

Apart from this, KVIC is adding at least 10 new products to its online inventory on a daily basis, setting its target to add at least 1000 products by October 2, 2020. Union government stated that KVIC had served nearly 4000 customers in just two months. The product range is priced from Rs 50 to Rs 5000, keeping in view the choice and affordability of all sections of buyers.

Elaborating the aim of KVIC’s E-Portal, its chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the online sale of Khadi products is a big push to ‘Swadeshi’ and aims at empowering the local artisans. He added, “Khadi’s E-market portal is providing our artisans with an additional platform to sell their goods. This is a concrete step towards the building of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

Adding more, he said, “Earlier products of Khadi institutions were sold only through outlets and hence their visibility was confined to a few states only. However, with KVIC’s E-portal, products are now reaching to the far-flung areas of the country and thus giving wider marketing spectrum to Khadi institutions which will ultimately increase their production and add to the income of artisans.”

The government claims that KVIC has received online orders from 31 States and Union Territories that include the far-flung Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. For the ease of customers, KVIC has fixed the minimum order value at Rs 599 for free delivery of goods. It has also entered into an agreement with the Postal Department for delivery of consignments via Speed Post.

Among the variety of products that KVIC sells also includes Modi Kurta and Modi Jackets for men and palazzo and straight trousers for women. Other products like — Khadi Rumal, spices, herbal neem wood comb, shampoo, cosmetics, cow dung and cow urine soap, yoga dress and several varieties of ready-to-eat food — have been included so far.

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Finance MSME

Finance Ministry Sanctions Rs 1.61 Lakh Crore Worth of Bank Loans to MSMEs Under ECLGS to Battle COVID-19 Pandemic

Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman, with other Finance Ministry officials. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman, with other Finance Ministry officials. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 8: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced that the Central government had so far sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 1.61 lakh crore to MSMEs under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). The amount has been sanctioned as a component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Self-Reliant India Mission package, announced by FM Sitharaman in May 2020 for firms to tackle the economic effect of COVID-19 pandemic.

Informing about the update, the Union Finance Minister took to Twitter and wrote, “As of 03 Sept 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stand at Rs 1,61,017.68 crore, of which Rs 1,13,713.15 crore has already been disbursed.”

Adding more, Sitharaman wrote, “Compared to 24 Aug 2020, there is an increase of Rs 5,022.06 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned & an increase of Rs 7,786.16 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed by both #PSBs and private sector banks combined as on 03 Sept 2020.”

Here’s what the Finance Minister’s office tweeted:

Among other details, the Finance Minister said that public sector banks have so far sanctioned Rs 78,067.21 crore under the ECLG scheme, and Rs 62,025.79 crore has been disbursed as of September 3, 2020. She added that the Union Finance Ministry regularly held review meetings with the banks to ensure that the scheme achieves its objective of providing adequate liquidity to the MSME segment during the current difficult period.

As per government estimate, the ECLG scheme would benefit more than 30 lakh units of MSMEs and other businesses to restart their businesses after the COVID-19 lockdown. It is to be known that the government had announced its plans for Rs 3 lakh crore as an additional credit to MSMEs and small businesses under Aatma Nirbhar package.

Under the scheme, the loans would be available to units — whose accounts are standard — with up to Rs 25 crore outstanding and turnover of up to Rs 100 crore. However, these firms will not have to provide any guarantee or collateral of their own as it will be 100 per cent guaranteed by the government and a total liquidity of Rs 3 lakh crore to more than 45 lakh MSMEs will be provided.

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E-Commerce Finance

Essential Commodities to Fuel Revival of Retail Sector in India As Consumer Expenditure Remains Focused on Essentials, Says Report

Retail Sector (Photo Credits: Pexels)

A recent study has revealed that the demand for essential commodities is likely to drive the revival of the retail sector in India. According to a report by Anarock Retail and the Retailers Association of India (RAI) titled ‘Indian Retail – Certainty Despite Headwinds’, the average bill value for essentials has gone up 1.5 times after lifting of lockdown — from Rs 650 per basket in early March to more than Rs 900 per basket presently.

“Amidst the pandemic-induced slowdown, essential goods will fuel Indian retail industry’s growth in the coming quarters as consumer expenditure continues to remain focused on essentials, particularly food and grocery,” said a joint statement by Anarock and the RAI.

Anuj Kejriwal, MD & CEO of Anarock Retail, was quoted by IANS saying that COVID-19 will work as a catalyst for the growth of organised retail and e-commerce in India. “Online spending is on a marked rise with online shoppers projected to increase from 15 per cent in 2019 to 50 per cent of the total online population by 2026”, Kejriwal added. The CEO of Anarock Retail further added saying that other new retail industry trends, omni-channel retailing is evolving rapidly with brands collaborating actively to enhance their reach and many are using malls or in-mall stores as urban warehouses to ensure a faster delivery to customers.

The report further adds that organised retail and e-commerce are on an upswing. Giving details of the revival of several retail sectors, the report added that food and grocery, followed by apparel, fast moving consumer durables (FMCD) and electronics, furniture and home furnishings and quick service restaurants (QSR) will see a “v-shaped” recovery within the next two to three quarters. Meanwhile, several other segments including beauty, wellness and personal care and home essentials may take 4-6 quarters to recover fully, the report said.

Citing IBEF data, the report adds that the share of Indian organised retail will double to 18 percent in 2021, from 9 percent in 2017. Similarly, the e-commerce is expected to more than double to 7 per cent from the previous 3 per cent in the same period.

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI) was quoted in the report saying that Omni-channel was gaining importance before the pandemic and the pandemic has enhanced the importance of retailers having an omni-channel strategy.

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Finance Sales

India’s Auto Component Sector, Hit by Slowdown and Hammered by COVID-19, May Record 15-18% Dip in FY 2021 Revenues

Passenger vehicles segment. (Photo Credit: Twitter)
Passenger vehicles segment. (Photo Credit: Twitter)

Chennai, September 5: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Brickwork Ratings on Thursday reported that auto component manufacturers are expected to suffer about 15-18 per cent decline in their revenues in FY 2021. Brickwork Ratings also claimed the sector may see a decline of an average of 100 basis points (bps) in their EBITDA due to sharp contraction in demand over what the industry experienced during FY 2020.

Releasing the report, Brickwork Ratings stated that India’s auto component manufacturers saw a decline in the revenues by 8-10 per cent after a year-on-year (YoY) increase until FY 2019. This was due to the shrinking order book from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) due to lower automobile sales in the last fiscal.

Elaborating more, the report stated, “BWR (Brickwork Ratings) expects export revenues to decline as well in FY21 as more than 50 per cent of our exports are to markets in Europe, the UK and the US, and demand from these markets is expected to decline amid the Covid-19 outbreak and postponement of model launches or deferment/cancellation of orders.”

Adding more, Brickwork Ratings predicted auto components players will be affected adversely in the first quarter of the current fiscal and the dip in revenues may continue in the second quarter. Though they expect a gradual recovery in vehicle sales from the second half of the current fiscal, the sales of automobiles are expected to decline in FY 2021 due to the postponement of model launches, reduced production levels, supply chain disruptions and the slowdown in new capacity additions.

It is to be known that India exports around 27 per cent of its automotive components production to the US, Germany, UK, Italy, Turkey, UAE and Thailand. Over 50 per cent of exports are to markets in Europe, the UK and the US.

Apart from this, the domestic market has also been impacted due to the shutting-down of dealerships and OEMs until mid-May 2020. Other reasons include labour shortage, the shortage in raw material availability, lower income levels and weaker consumer sentiments.

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Finance

Narendra Modi Govt Clears Payments of Over Rs 6,800 Crore Owed to MSMEs Over Past 3 Months

रुपया
Money

In a bid to help the MSMEs, the Modi Government has been taking a series of measures. The government on Wednesday informed that the Central ministries and PSUs have cleared payments of over Rs 6,800 crore owed to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSEMs) in the last three months. It said almost three-fourths of the monthly dues have been paid during the same month by most of the ministries and CPSEs. The pending amounts are expected to be released in the normal course of business and within 45 days.

The MSME ministry, in a statement, said that “more than Rs 6,800 crore have been paid by the Ministries and CPSEs in the last three months alone”. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as part of AtmaNirbhar Bharat package, had announced that Government entities should make such payments within 45 days. The Ministry of MSME followed up this announcement vigorously and took up the matter with the Central Ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and State Governments. Particularly very active follow up has been done with the Heads of CPSEs.

The MSME Development Act of 2006 provides that such dues should be paid within 45 days. To make the reporting easy, regular and seamless, a dedicated online format has been made for reporting the monthly payments and pendency, the ministry said.

“However, it is seen that MSME suppliers of goods and services do not receive their due payments within stipulated time. Public and private entities do cross this time limit and hence they cause hardship to the MSMEs,” the statement said. According to a government release, the ministry also said close to 4 lakh registrations have already taken place on the Udyam registration portal for MSMEs since the new system was launched in July.

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Finance MSME Startup

98% Exporters, Especially from MSMEs, to Benefit Under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, Says Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 2: The Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that 98 per cent of the exporters — especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) — will benefit under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with reward cap of Rs 2 crore per Importer Exporter Code (IEC) from September 1 to December 31, 2020.

Issuing a circular, the Union Minister took to Twitter and wrote, “98% of exporters esp MSMEs will benefit under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with reward cap of Rs. 2 Cr/ Importer Exporter Code from 1st Sep to 31 Dec 2020. This will remove uncertainty & protect genuine exporters while ensuring Make in India-Make for the World.”

Here’s what the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry said:

The notification stated, “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 read with Para 1.02 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-20 and the enabling para 3.13 of the FTP, the Central Government hereby makes the following amendments in the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 with immediate effect.”

The notification spoke about the insertion of two new paragraphs — 3.04A and 3.04B — in the Foreign Trade Policy. As per 3.04A, the total reward which may be granted to an IEC holder under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) shall not exceed Rs 2 crore per IEC on exports made in the period September 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

Adding more, the para says those who have made any export with LEO date during the period September 1, 2019, to December August 31, 2020, will not be eligible for submitting any claim for benefits under MEIS for exports. However, para 3.04B says benefits under MEIS will not be available for exports made with effect from January 1, 2021.

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Finance

Amazon to Invest $18 Billion This Year to Help SMBs in US to Scale Their Operations and Grow

Amazon (Photo Credits: Amazon, Facebook Page)

Seattle, September 2: E-commerce giant Amazon on Wednesday announced that it will invest $18 billion this year to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) scale their operations and grow. The firm stated that in the next 12 months, it will provide more than 5,00,000 SMBs in the US currently selling on Amazon, with online selling guidance, education, and support. Moreover, the company plans to onboard an additional 1,00,000 US businesses as new sellers in its store. Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer at Amazon, said that at Amazon, the mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, and part of fulfilling that mission is connecting small businesses with customers.

Wilke made the statement during Amazon Accelerate, a three-day virtual summit for SMBs in the US that was kicked-off on Tuesday. Wilke further said that Amazon’s success is directly tied to the success of independent businesses across the US. “We are passionate about supporting small businesses, investing and inventing on their behalf to help them be resilient through COVID-19 and beyond,” Wilke added.

Despite the impact of COVID-19 has had on small businesses, many American SMBs selling through Amazon have experienced continued growth. The e-commerce behemoth has launched more than 135 new tools and services this year to help sellers manage and grow their businesses, including new ways to connect brands with customers.

According to a report by IANS, the company said it will spend an additional $100 million this year to promote small businesses during Prime Day and through the holiday season. Last year during Prime Day, third-party sellers – mostly SMBs – exceeded $2 billion in global sales. The report added that the third-party sellers continue to account for more than half of all units sold in Amazon’s store, and even during the pandemic, third-party sales continued to grow faster than Amazon’s first-party sales.