Category: MSME

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E-Commerce Legal MSME

KVIC’s Legal Action Forces Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal to Remove 160 Fake Khadi Products Online

KVIC. (Photo Credit: Image grab)
KVIC. (Photo Credit: Image grab)

New Delhi, September 20: The Khadi and Village Industries Commission’s (KVIC) on Sunday informed that its firmness had forced e-commerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and others to remove over 160 web links selling products in the brand name of ‘Khadi’. The new development comes days after KVIC served legal notices to over 1000 firms using the brand name ‘Khadi India’ to sell their products.

Issuing a statement, KVIC said, “These e-commerce portals were selling products like Khadi masks, herbals soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, herbal mehandi, jackets, kurta and many such products through different sellers using the brand name ‘Khadi’. This created a false impression among online buyers that these commodities were genuine ‘Khadi’ products. KVIC also stated that a majority of the products that have been removed were being sold by one Ayush E-Traders. This firm has confirmed to KVIC that it has removed 140 links for various products that were being sold as ‘Vagad’s Khadi Products’.”

Adding more, KVIC stated that there has been a steep rise in violation of Khadi trademark as the popularity of Khadi grew manifold in recent years. It added that a number of online sellers began selling random products in the name of Khadi. For the ease of online customers to buy genuine Khadi products, KVIC has launched it’s e-portal selling a range of 300 products online at www.kviconline.gov.in/khadimask.

KVIC recent action has resulted in shutting down a number of stores across the country that were selling fake Khadi products. KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said, “Legal notices have been issued to various firms essentially to safeguard the interest of Khadi artisans. This trademark violation has a direct bearing on the livelihood of our artisans who are making genuine handcrafted products.”

Earlier in August, KVIC had issued legal notices to two firms Khadi Essentials and Khadi Global for unauthorizedly selling cosmetics and other products in the name of Khadi. The KVIC had also sought damages to the tune of Rs 500 crore from Fabindia which is pending before the Bombay High Court.

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MSME

Narendra Modi Birthday 2020: Khadi and Village Industries Commission Creates 1500 Employment in 10 Cities on ‘Sewa Diwas’ to Celebrate PM’s Special Day

SFURTI Cluster of 500 artisans for making hand-knotted carpets in Prayagraj (Image Credit: PIB)
SFURTI Cluster of 500 artisans for making hand-knotted carpets in Prayagraj (Image Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 18: The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) on Thursday extended the benefits of various employment generation schemes to nearly 1500 persons in 10 Indian cities to celebrate ‘Sewa Diwas’. The benefits were extended to mark the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The KVIC organised 14 programs to expand the ambit of its welfare projects to create local employment. The KVIC also distributed 6 innovative cycle-mounted tea/coffee selling units under project DigniTEA in New Delhi. The cycle-mounted tea/coffee selling units were distributed to unemployed local youths with an aim to enable the tea-sellers to earn a respectable livelihood.

Apart from this, Union Minister of State for MSME Pratap Chandra Sarangi inaugurated an SFURTI cluster of 500 artisans for making hand-knotted carpets in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Among other programmes, KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena launched six different programs in Varanasi that include the first Footwear Training cum Production Center in Varanasi for leather artisans (Mochi) in collaboration with Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI).

He also distributed electric potter wheels to 300 Kumhar families under Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana and 200 bee boxes to 20 farmers families under Honey Mission. The KVIC chairman also distributed 6 hand-operated Agarbatti making machines at Sewapuri Block in Varanasi under the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission.

KVIC chairman said sustainable development though local employment generation has been the key focus of KVIC which is aligned with the Prime Minister’s commitment of ‘Job to Every Hand’ (Har Hath Me Kaam). “It is the inspiration and appeal of the Hon’ble Prime Minister that has taken Khadi to a new height. We are hopeful that he will continue to lead Khadi as its biggest brand ambassador,” Saxena said.

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MSME

MSME Revival: Nitin Gadkari Lists Steps Taken to Re-Boost Sector Hit by COVID-19 Pandemic

Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 17: With the country’s micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector badly affected due to COVID-19 pandemic, Union Minister of MSME Nitin Gadkari stated that the government had implemented various schemes and programmes for growth and development of the sector under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

Among the major schemes to revive the ailing MSME sector include Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), A Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry & Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE), Interest Subvention Scheme for Incremental Credit to MSMEs, Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises, Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Upgradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS).

Under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the Union Ministry had made arrangements for:

a) Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for MSMEs.

b) Rs 3 lakh crores Collateral free Automatic Loans for business, including MSMEs.

c) Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds.

d) Newly revised criteria for the classification of MSMEs.

e) New Registration of MSMEs through ‘Udyam Registration’ for Ease of Doing Business.

e) No global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crores, this will help MSME.

Apart from this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched an online Portal ‘Champions’ on June 1, 2020, aiming to cover aspects of e-governance including grievance redressal and handholding of MSMEs. Through the portal, total 18,723 grievances have been redressed up to September 9, 2020, said Gadkari in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

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MSME Startup

Comprehensive Space Act to Help Start-Ups to Make Rockets, Launch Vehicles For ISRO Soon, Says K Sivan

ISRO's rocket launch. (Photo Credit: Facebook/ISRO)
ISRO's rocket launch. (Photo Credit: Facebook/ISRO)

Chennai, September 16: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Department of Space (DoS) Secretary K Sivan on Tuesday said that the Union government will come out with a policy for launch vehicles and rockets, space exploration and a comprehensive Space Act. The new policy will help several space sector start-ups that are coming up in the country for making rockets, satellites and others.

Speaking at the international space conference and exhibition titled ‘Ushering the new era in Indian Space Sector’, Sivan said that the insurance sector can also get into this important field once the policies and law are in place.

Sivan also said that a comprehensive Space Act and various policies are in the pipeline while he was elaborating on the legal and policy framework that is being planned with the government to open up the space sector for private players. However, the ISRO chief said the government will govern the space activities through policies for every line of activity and the Space Act. With this, the insurance sector can get a way out in the space sector.

Stressing on plans to encourage start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the space sector, Sivan said the DoS through the Space Enterprise Encouragement and Development (SEED) scheme will support them to take up innovation, research and product development and services for ISRO.

The exhibition was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with ISRO, Antrix Corporation Limited and was supported by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

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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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MSME Technology

IIT Madras Develops Alternatives to Conventional Lithium-Ion Batteries, Institute Claims it Will Help Domestic MSME Sector

IIT Madras. (Photo Credit: Facebook)
IIT Madras. (Photo Credit: Facebook)

Chennai, September 10: The researchers of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) have made significant advances in developing alternatives to conventional lead-acid and lithium-ion for industrial usage. As India is aiming to achieve 40 per cent of its total electricity generation from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, such news is crucial.

Informing about the latest development, Department of Chemical Engineering of IIT Madras’s Prof Sreenivas Jayanti said, “Our team designed, fabricated and executed indigenous kW-scale vanadium redox flow battery for application in energy storage, which can be integrated into renewable sources such as solar and wind energy.”

Adding more, Jayanti said, “We have developed operating protocols and design criteria for flow battery stack of power rating up to 10 kW using the prototype of a practical size that can be directly employed in industrial-scale stacks for grid-level storage.”

IIT Madras researchers claim that the study into vanadium redox flow battery stack development will open up new possibilities for the indigenous fabrication of flow battery stacks by MSME units for domestic applications. The researchers also stated that the energy can be stored indefinitely as the active species are in a liquid state and stored outside the battery.

Study researcher Ravendra Gundlapalli said, “‘Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries’ (VRFB), with their distinct features of independent scale-up of power and energy, long cycling life, low Levelized cost of energy storage and milli-seconds response time, shows great scope in confronting with intermittency in renewable energy sources and load demand.”

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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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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 MSME Process & Business Expansion

Jio Mart, Facebook Tie-Up Aims to Bring 25 Million SMEs Online in Near Future

Facebook and JIO Mart (Photo Credit: pixabay and Facebook)
Facebook and JIO Mart (Photo Credit: pixabay and Facebook)

Mumbai, August 29: With an aim to help millions of COVID-19 affected Kirana stores in India, JIO Mart has tied up with Facebook to bring 20-25 million small businesses online in the near future. The two business giants have joined hands to help these small and medium enterprises digitise their product catalogues through the use of instant messaging app Whatsapp.

Speaking at an event organised by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Facebook India’s vice-president and managing director Ajit Mohan said, as quoted by Business Standard, “Our excitement is with connecting the dots between WhatsApp and Jio with the objective of helping millions of Kirana owners to digitise their product catalogues.”

Mohan was of the opinion that the move will fundamentally change the consumer behaviour in India and help in changing consumers change from opting to digital payments from physical cash. Citing a recent Boston Consulting Group-Facebook consumer behaviour study, Mohan stated that digitally-influenced purchases had gone up by 15-20 per cent for consumer goods brands like apparels, mobile phones and packaged goods. He added, as the daily quoted, “Video and virtual experiences will be at the heart of buying in the upcoming festive season.”

During the interaction, the Facebook-India MD said that the launch of Instagram’s Reels and WhatsApp video calls had reflected users’ changing consumer behaviour. It is to be known that Facebook recently acquired a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, which houses many digital platforms like JioSaavn and Radisys. Also, Reliance’s fully-owned subsidiary is the biggest disruptor in the Indian telecom market as Jio.