FSME seeks immediate release of pending incentives in Telangana

MSMEs are regularly paying electricity bills, taxes, interest on loans and loan instalments. But the Telangana government has not paid incentives to industries since 2014. It will be big relief to the industries, especially MSMEs if the new government clears these pending incentives immediately - APK Reddy, president, FSME India

Hyderabad: With entrepreneurs, especially those operating medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), suffering a lot as incentives to the tune of Rs 3,937.46 crore have been pending since 2014 till date in Telangana, the new Congress government should clear these incentives forthwith to spur industrial growth, said APK Reddy, president, Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises of India (FSME India).

“MSMEs are regularly paying electricity bills, taxes, interest on loans and loan instalments. But the Telangana government has not paid incentives to industries since 2014. As a consequence, pending incentives to industries in the State have soared to a whopping Rs 3,937.46 crore till November 2023 with regard to 26,720 proposals. It will be a big relief to the industries, especially MSMEs if the new government clears these pending incentives immediately,” Reddy told Bizz Buzz.

He further suggested that the State government should give guarantees for bank loans if it is not in a position to clear these pending incentives immediately. These pending incentives also can be adjusted against power bills and SGST of the industries, he added.

Reddy also batted for the removal of fixed charges for industrial power connections. “Power distribution companies collect fixed charges from industries, apart from charges for the power consumed. As a result, industries are forced to cough up fixed charges even if they don’t use power,” he pointed out.

He also underlined the need for a strong and comprehensive marketing ecosystem for MSMEs to market their products without any hurdles. “States like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh have a transparent Procurement Act with regard to procurement from MSMEs. A similar legislation should be enacted in Telangana as well, for the benefit of MSMEs,” he said.

Reddy said that the Telangana government should develop dry ports and logistics infrastructure. “Telangana needs dry ports and multi-model logistics parks. These can be developed under public private partnership so that financial burden will be reduced on the government. A dry port can be developed in Nalgonda district to connect Telangana with Ramayapatnam and other seaports in Andhra Pradesh,” Reddy explained.