Secretary to the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Dinesh Rai urged the industrial associations here to come out with proposals to conduct skill training programmes with assistance from the National Skill Development Funding Corporation.
The Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association (CODISSIA), Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association (COINDIA), Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA) and the MSME Development Institute organised a meeting with the secretary here on Thursday.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Rai said the Government had adopted a three-pronged strategy for skill development. According to a study conducted by ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited), the country would face a shortage of 50 million skilled workers for the next two years. Industrial associations could submit proposals for large-scale training projects. The Ministry was also studying the possibility of introducing single point taxation for MSMEs for State taxes and another single point taxation for Central taxes, he said.
K. Ilango, president of the CODISSIA, said the MSMEs here were limping back to normality after almost a year of slowdown. Power and infrastructure were two major challenges that were increasing the cost of manufacturing.
He appealed to the Government to ensure that the credit linked capital subsidy scheme was implemented by all banks and the funds were disbursed at the earliest. President of the COINDIA G. Rajendran said the minimum period to decide non-performing assets for micro and small enterprises should be extended to 180 days from the current 90 days.
Jayakumar Ramdass, president of the SIEMA, proposed a vote of thanks.
