MSMEs decide to shut operations till March 31 in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: In view of Covid-19 pandemic, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the district have shut their operations from 6pm on Tuesday till March 31.
Representatives of 14 MSMEs met district collector K Rajamani and took the decision to shut their units.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing 21-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday evening, the MSMEs, however, must decide on extending the shutdown period.
For non-working days, MSME associations have decided to pay their workers and provide them with food and other necessities.
MSME units in the district employ around 1lakh migrant labourers, mostly from northern states, said J James, district president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises (TACT).
“It is our responsibility to provide them with food and safety measures. We would support them,” he said.
While bigger industries have said they would offer full payment to their workers, micro industries, which have already been reeling under crisis, would ensure them at least half their pay.
To meet with payment necessities, MSME associations have sought that the Centre provide them with subsidies for the lock down period and exempt them from ESI and PF.
The associations have also sought that statutory payments such as property tax, water tax, licence fee and electricity bill be deferred for three months.
“The electricity board has asked us to pay the same amount we paid last month as personnel could not take readings. But it is not fair as this month we have operated very little. We should be charged only for what we have used,” said S Surulivel, state vice president of Laghu Udyog Bharati.
MSME representatives also said they would not be able to pay loan dues and EMIs and sought a nil interest on loans and cash credit till the end of the current situation. They also sought a moratorium for one year from now.
R Ramamurthy, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) said MSMEs were in no position to pay any dues as they had already been in a crisis and owing to the lockdown. He said the collector had asked the lead bank manager to consider and process their request.
Meanwhile, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that all GST returns for March, April, May and composition returns would be extended to June 30. For companies which have an annual turnover of less than Rs5crore, no late fee or penalty would be charged and for those with annual turnover above Rs5crpre, interest rate would be brought down to 9%.