Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Wednesday wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking support for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state amid the COVID pandemic.
In the letter, KTR said, while the incidence of COVID is declining sharply in the country and the chances of a modest economic recovery may be possible towards Q4 (fourth quarter) of the year, the MSME sector still requires support.
He noted that looking at the seriousness of loss of business and declining revenues of the MSMEs, it will be justified if the loans availed by the MSMEs are given a moratorium till March 31, 2022, without any accrual of interest during the moratorium period.
The Minister stated that this support will provide a big relief to the MSMEs and can help them get back to normalcy.
He further highlighted that Hyderabad and surrounding districts are major hubs for manufacturing for the past five decades, with a predominance of MSME industries.
He, however, added that due to pandemic-induced restrictions and disruptions since last year, the MSMEs have been badly affected.
Though the government of Telangana did not put any restrictions on industrial activities during the recent second wave of the pandemic, KTR noted that the restrictions in surrounding states had a major impact on the functioning of the industries in Telangana.
He noted that many industries in the state faced challenges in the procurement of raw materials and sending out finished products to their customers.
'Strongly' appealing to the Centre to take up supportive measures in favour of the MSMEs, the Minister also pointed out that another reason for the slowdown of industrial activities was the shortage of labour that typically comes to Telangana from other states. .
( With inputs from ANI )
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