Pune: The state govt has widened the scope of the recently introduced Package Scheme of Incentives for micro, small and medium enterprises to include more developed areas, which will make higher investments in Pune viable, industry players said.The scheme provides subsidies such as interest subvention, rebate on goods and services tax, reduced electricity tariffs and stamp duty waiver to MSMEs for capital investments made. These include the purchase of land or machinery, setting up a research division or technology upgrade. The amount of subsidies offered increases depending on the backwardness of the districts across the state, divided into five categories (A, B, C, D and D+).“MSMEs in Pune district, which fall in the developed ‘A’ category, were till now excluded from the benefits. Despite being in the advanced group, development across Pune district was not uniform, which led to disparity in investment decisions within the district,” Prashant Girbane, director general, MCCIA, said.Sandip Rokade, joint director, Maharashtra industries department, said Pune was excluded from this scheme for a long time since there was already a dense concentration of industries in the city and Pimpri Chinchwad since the 1980s. “The basis for this scheme for underdeveloped regions was to promote industrial expansion in remote districts,” he said.Some MSMEs in Pune district increased their scale over the years, and they were willing to invest in other districts provided some benefits were given in ‘A’ group areas, Rokade said and added that the criteria for becoming a beneficiary of the scheme are very stringent.Other than financial eligibility, small units have to comply with industrial regulations. Two main pain points are that the unit should be approved by the town planning authority, and the plot on which the factory is located should be approved as industrial non-agricultural land.Secondly, an unit operating for more than 10 years cannot get the benefit of the scheme. It should be a newly formed unit which surpassed a certain scale and is in its expansion phase. The new modalities will be issued shortly on which units can apply, depending on the date of investment. Units which make investments approximately within two to three years from now can become eligible if they comply with other criteria.
