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The Madhya Pradesh government announced exemption from some labour laws for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also said the government would establish a Rs 100-crore venture capital (VC) fund and a separate department for the sector. He said so while inaugurating a three-day Global Investors Summit, fourth in a series, here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected here on Thursday.
The CM said MSMEs in the state will now have to file only one return on complying with labour laws, instead of the 40-plus at present. Exemptions are proposed on the Factories Act and Indian Contract Act.
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The proposed VC fund is to participate in the equity of these units. “We will create a separate department that will focus on MSME issues,” he said.
The Confederation of Indian Industry, Pithampur Audyogik Sangathan and Madhya Pradesh Laghu Udyog Sangh welcomed the announcement but they and others also noted some of this wasn’t new.
“It was announced during the 2007 Laghu Udyog Panchayat that a separate directorate will be created but MSMEs later started pitching for a separate ministry,” a senior government official told Business Standard.
The government has two prominent agencies, district industry centers (DICs) and Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigams (AKVNs), to take care of MSMEs. These agencies primarily allot land to the sector.
The Cabinet had proposed in 2012 to bring AKVNs and DICs under the MP State Trade and Facilitation Corporation (Trifac), to make it stronger. However, this hasn’t happened, due to second thoughts. “If DICs and AKVNs are brought under Trifac, the facilitation agency, which agency will take care of creating industrial infrastructure at the district level? Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan have separate agencies for creation of infrastructure. If Trifac is engaged with SMEs, which agency will facilitate large scale industries,” a government source asked.
Chouhan also announced a separate MSME Development Board under his chairmanship, to meet at least thrice a year.
The CM said 27 new industrial clusters were being planned and at least a fifth of the land would be kept for MSMEs. “We want to focus on industrialisation of the state and MSMEs are a vital cog in it,” said Chouhan.
EMPOWERING MP
- The government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan got a mention in all addresses at the summit. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan urged the state’s industrialists to plant at least 10 trees on their factory premises
- In 2016, the historic city of Ujjain will host the mega Kumbh festival. To promote the event, the state government has created a separate enclosure outside the convention premises
- Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was visibly embarrassed when the compère of the inaugural session started listing the Speaker’s achievements. Mahajan interrupted to point out the people knew her well
