Page 86 - PR Communication Age January-June2020

Govt to invest Rs. 65K cr in include food products, textiles, elec- Banks and rating agencies
tronics, automobiles, pharmaceuticals,
200 economic zones chemicals and cold storage. should change their per-

The government has prepared a plan spective on MSME
to attract investment of nearly Rs 4mn unemployed to get Banks and rating agencies need to
65,000 crore in more than 200 eco- change their yardsticks for MSMEs
nomic zones in the next five years, govt relief
(micro, small and medium enterprises)
according to a proposal made under The union government relaxed eligibil- to support the growth of the sector,
the National Master Plan for providing ity norms to offer almost 4 million in- said an eminent business leader.
multi-modal connectivity to various dustrial workers 50% of their three
economic zones. months average salary as unemploy- They should change their perspective
ment benefit due to the job loss or
towards MSMEs and become more in-
The road, railways, shipping and civil possible job loss between 24 March and spiring to small units.
aviation ministries have prepared a 31 December 2020.
detailed connectivity roadmap for “One of the things that I keep telling
these economic zones such as food and The proposal was approved at a meet- is about banks and rating agencies’
agro zones, fishing and defence clus- ing of the Employees State Insurance approach towards MSMEs. They are
ters, electronic, textile and pharma- Corporation (ESIC) board headed by the using the same yardsticks to measure
union labour minister Santosh
ceutical parks. the performance of an MSME unit as
Gangwar. The ESIC has calculated that
they do for a $10-billion company –
the move will benefit some 4.1 million
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a whether it’s Reliance Industries or an
beneficiaries in the March to Decem-
review meeting on the preparation of MSME, banks and rating agencies use
ber 2020 period.
the Master Plan on Monday and the same yardsticks. This is not the
tweeted that the move will boost pro- right approach,” Ravi Uppal, who held
“The move will give cash benefits
ductivity, infrastructure, economic top positions at Jindal Steel & Power,
equivalent to 50% of the last drawn
progress and opportunities for young- L&T, ABB and Volvo India, told.
average wage to eligible insured per-
sters.
sons (IP) under ESIC for three months," Banks and rating agencies should know
said Amarjeet Kaur, a board member the resource limitations with which
Sources said seven infrastructure min-
of the ESIC said over a phone. MSMEs operate. Without realising
istries and seven others joined hands to
that, they use the same yardstick ap-
prepare the National Master Plan with Kaur said the decision was approved plied to big giants.
the view to align efforts of each minis- and it will benefit a segment of the
try or department with a national per- workers but had they relaxed this eli- As a result, only a very few out of the
spective. The plan also aims to ensure gibility criteria a bit more, may be 6.5 million MSMEs in the country are
that all missing gaps are removed for more than double (above 7.5 million) able to secure better ratings, which
seamless movement of people, goods the workers would have benefited. will help access capital at lower costs.
and services within a given time frame
Banks and rating agencies should en-
so far as connectivity is concerned. Industrial workers with a monthly earn- courage MSMEs, measure the perfor-
ing up to Rs.21,000 fall under the mance based on the limitations with
Three big industrial areas at ambit of the ESIC scheme and every which they operate and inspire them
Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, month a portion of their salary is de- to do better.
Tumkur in Karnataka and Dadri in ducted and deposited with the ESIC to
Uttar Pradesh have been identified avail medical benefits from primary to Whether it is a micro, small or medium,
under this plan as well. tertiary care facilities. These workers the company is gradually inching up.
are called IPs. Currently, an IP pays None of them will comewith 25 per
The government has identified the in- 0.75% of his or her basic salary and cent RoC (return on capital). So, they
dustries that would come up at these 3.25% is given by the employer to the deserve a different yardstick to assess
three big industrial areas and these ESIC kitty. them, said Uppal.

86 PR COMMUNICATION AGE January - June 2020