Support MSMEs in TS, KTR appeals to Finance Minister

Hyderabad: KT Rama Rao, Telangana Industries and IT Minister, has appealed to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking support for MSMEs in the State.

In a letter to the Finance Minister, KTR said, "While the Covid cases are declining sharply in the country and the chances of a modest economic recovery may be possible towards Q4 of this year, the MSME sector still requires support."

"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," KTR added.

The minister said that this support will provide a big relief to the MSMEs and can help them get back to normalcy. He also highlighted that Hyderabad and surrounding districts, are major hubs for manufacturing, with a predominance of MSME industries. But due to pandemic-induced restrictions and disruptions since last year, the MSMEs have been badly affected, he said.

"Though the government of Telangana did not put any restrictions on industrial activities during the recent second wave of the pandemic, the restrictions in surrounding States had a major impact on the functioning of the industries in Telangana," the minister observed.

KTR said that many of them faced challenges in procurement of raw materials and sending out finished products to their customers. He 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.