NE NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI, MAY 1
Andhra Pradesh government has announced a slew of measures, including clearing 50 per cent of all pending industrial incentives of Rs 904 crore in the current month itself and waiving fixed electricity charges for three months, on Friday to ensure that the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state reopen during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
The state government has also decided to provide working capital loans to MSMEs at lower interest rates. A fund to the tune of Rs 200 crore would be created to lend loans between Rs 2-10 lakh, it said in a statement.
The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in the southern state is working on a specific plan with the relevant departments and guidelines will be issued soon, it added.
These decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday in order to pump life back into the MSME sector of the state.
Minister for IT, Commerce and Information Technology Gowtham Reddy, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney and other senior officials were present at the meeting.
“This will help the MSMEs cope with the economic impact of COVID-19. A total of 97,400 MSMEs, which employ over 9.7 lakh people, to benefit from these decisions,” Gowtham Reddy said.
The government said disbursement of pending incentives would inject cash into the system as the economic impact of the spread of COVID-19 and the consequential nationwide lockdown have harmed the financial capability of a lot of MSMEs, especially the micro and small industries.
The state government has decided that all pending industrial incentives to MSMEs, amounting Rs 904 crore, will be cleared in two phases. About 50 per cent of it will be cleared in May and the rest in June.
Of the total pending incentives, an amount of Rs 827 crore was left behind by the previous government, the statement said.
To reduce the burden on MSMEs, the government has also decided to waive the fixed electricity charges that they would otherwise have to pay, irrespective of whether or not they have consumed any power during the lockdown, according to the norms.
“All Fixed Charges/Minimum Demand Charges that over 97,400 MSMEs would have to pay for their electricity for the months of April/May/June will be waived by the government,” it said.
The same will be deferred in the case of all other enterprises for the said period, the government said, adding that this would help the MSMEs to restart operations.
District/Mandal level agro advisory boards soon
The AP government has decided to set up agricultural advisory boards at the state, district and mandal level to formulate agricultural plans and to advise farmers on the cropping patterns from time to time. This was decided at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Friday.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to take immediate steps for setting up the advisory boards so that they can study the agrarian system at the international as well as national level to derive suitable agricultural policy for the local conditions. The boards will give suggestions to farmers on the kinds of crops to be sown suitable for the soil of the region and to see that farmers get a remunerative price for the produce.
He advised the officials to ensure internet and electricity connections to all the Rythu Bharosa Centres and to disseminate information to the farmers from there. Jagan also directed them to standardize the e-cropping procedures at the centres and to interact with farmers to solve their problems on the spot. He said the previous government had never bothered about issues pertaining to agriculture and it was the endeavour of the present government to focus mainly on agro and it’s allied sectors so that it would give the desired results.
The officials told the Chief Minister that paddy procurement gained momentum in all the districts. However, the Chief Minister took strong exception to the complaint from some farmers in Krishna district that a small portion of paddy from each bag was being kept aside.
He said such anomalies would not be tolerated and strict action initiated against erring officials. He also advised the officials to see that grains were not left for drying on the roads as was done during the previous regime. He said efforts should be made to set up fruit processing plants for banana, tomato, mango and oranges.
Meanwhile addressing a press conference on Friday, Minister for Agriculture K Kannababu said that all eligible farmers across the State will be given Rythu Bharosa incentives and the list of beneficiaries shall be displayed at village and ward secretariats. As many as 46 lakh farmers were benefited previous year with Rythu Bharosa and we didn’t remove any eligible member from the list. He said that opposition members are making false allegations against the government stating that we axed four lakh beneficiaries from the list. As on date the list of beneficiaries was not finalised, in case if any eligible person is found to be missing, we are asking them to approach the village secretariat and their name will be added immediately.
