Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has released Rs 512.35 crore to MSMEs as the second installment of the total Rs 1,168 crore restart package to handhold the sector.
There is a need for the state to handhold the MSME sector, which has 97,428 units of which 24,252 are micro units providing employment to 10 lakh people.
The government had released the first installment of Rs 450 crore in May 2020. It has to pay Rs 827.5 crore dues to the MSME sector.
Besides clearing the dues, the government also waived the fixed three-month electricity charges worth Rs 188 crore from April to June 2020. The government is also providing working capital from the State Investment Corporation to MSMEs ranging from Rs two lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
These apart, it is giving six-month moratorium and has fixed the term to three years. The state will purchase 25 percent of the 360 varieties of goods produced by MSMEs of which four percent will be from MSMEs run by SCs and three percent from units run by women. The bills will be cleared within 45 days.
The government is planning to give Rs 1,000 crore package to spinning mills in 2021 and in 2022 will focus on other sectors.