Few takers for incentives, industries dept to revamp SOPs

Panaji: The move to financially support MSMEs, hospitals, and educational institutions in pursuing certification and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) has failed to yield results, with just one applicant coming forward over the past five years since 2019-20.

The scheme, which is part of the umbrella scheme for industries, has also seen annual budgetary allocations plummet. Cumbersome documentation processes, restriction of the scheme to MSMEs that commenced operations after 2017, and a lack of interest in IPR and green investments are some of the reasons why the industries department has decided to revamp the umbrella scheme entirely, said officials.

Industries minister Mauvin Godinho chaired a review meeting a few days ago to refine the draft proposal of the revamped umbrella scheme. The meeting focused on aligning the scheme’s objectives with “current policy priorities” and ensuring effective implementation of strategies, including simplifying the application process.

A department official said that the directorate of industries, trade, and commerce has prepared a draft policy that offers a comprehensive revamp to streamline the applicability of the incentives.

From 2019-20 to 2024-25, five MSMEs took benefit of the loan interest subsidy scheme, with govt disbursing a total of Rs 27.1 lakh. To put this in perspective, the annual limit for this incentive was restricted to Rs 25 lakh.

Incentives for training costs, green infrastructure, and local purchases did not receive any applications in five years.

“These incentives are only for MSMEs which came in after 2017, and this number is negligible. Many of the small and micro units do not have the staff to dedicate for compliances, certifications, and frequent visits to Panaji only for small incentives,” said an official.

Industry stakeholders said that rather than limiting the schemes to only MSMEs that were set up after 2017, govt needs to support all industrial units to expand operations irrespective of when they were set up.