CM Edappadi Palanisamy spoke at the Conference of Large Industries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises organized by the Chennai International Centre and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He assured that industrial associations and entrepreneurs will be granted appointment with the CM within 24 hours and in the meantime meet the Chief Secretary. He also promised that undue laxity in the process would be dealt with firmly.
Coimbatore: CM Edappadi Palanisamy spoke at the Conference of Large Industries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises organized by the Chennai International Centre and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He assured that industrial associations and entrepreneurs will be granted appointment with the CM within 24 hours and meet the TN Chief Secretary immediately. He also promised that undue laxity in the process would be dealt with firmly.
Posting a series of tweets regarding the conference, later, the Chief Minister said, "I had a very fruitful interaction with investors and entrepreneurs looking at investing in Tamil Nadu. I reiterate that our government will provide the most enabling environment for businesses to thrive. Transparency will be our top most priority. In this juncture, I would like to affirm that our government would clear approvals at record speed and shall also tailor incentives to the specific requirements of different industries. I also promise that the CMO and myself would be easily accessible to entrepreneurs."
He further assured, "Industries and businesses willing to relocate to, or set up base, in Tamil Nadu. Any undue laxity or delay on approvals, on the part of officials, shall be firmly dealt with. We are committed to make the best of the situation to boost the business scenario in Tamil Nadu. It is learnt that many industries are planning to relocate from some countries to India and other South East Asian Countries following the disruption of global supply chains consequent to COVID-19. Unprecedented events like the pandemic have the potential to bring about landmark changes."
At the conference the CM had said, " The spread of Global Pandemic CoronaVirus is one of the most unprecedented and challenging disasters in recent history. Globally lakhs of people have been affected and thousands have lost their
valuable lives. This Pandemic has also affected the world economy very adversely and Tamil Nadu is no exception."
Talking about the measures that the government is undertaking he informed, " The Tamil Nadu Government, with the sole objective of saving the lives of the people, has been working effectively and comprehensively to control the fallout of this Pandemic. The State Government has been working in close coordination with various stakeholders like Doctors, Health Workers, Sanitary Workers, Police, other Government departments, industrialists and general public to effectively control the spread of this Pandemic."
Appreciating the role of various industries during this pandemic he said, " In order to promote the manufacturing of COVID related medical equipment and medicines in Tamil Nadu, the government had announced a Special Incentive Package. As a result and because of the efforts of our industrialists and entrepreneurs, today nearly 1500 companies are producing COVID related essential items and supplying them to the entire country. It is noteworthy that the majority of them are MSME units. Tamil Nadu has always stood by the country to meet any emergency. Once again the response of TN has shown the vibrancy and capacity of the manufacturing industry to meet the needs of the Nation."
Further, he thanked the various industrialists for their generous donations to the CM's Relief fund and support offered during these trying times.
Speaking about the lockdown and the expected relaxation, he said, "While taking efforts to control the spread of Coronavirus, the Government has continuously taken steps to protect the livelihoods of the people and provided essential services. As a next step, the Government has relaxed the lockdown restrictions progressively and step by step. Even during the lockdown period, Tamil Nadu was the only State to permit all industrial units to undertake essential maintenance for safety purposes with skeleton staff. Moreover, the Government has allowed manufacturing of all essential commodities like Pharmaceuticals, food items and also functioning of 10 types of continuous process industries."
He further added, "To recommend the progressive relaxation of lockdown restrictions, an expert committee has been constituted with Government officials, public health professionals and industry associations. Based on the recommendations of this committee, many relaxations have been given. Presently most industries in Tamil Nadu except in Chennai Police Commissionerate area have started functioning."
Appreciating the industries for taking all safety precautions and strictly adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) given by the Government, he said, "The Government will further relax the restrictions based on the ground situation and improvements achieved. At this juncture, it is very important for industries to be vigilant and adhere to the safety measures to stop the spread of CoronaVirus and to continue their operations."
The relief offered to the MSMEs under the Covid Relief and Upliftment Scheme (CORUS) was also highlighted by the CM. He informed that many MSME units have already benefitted out of this scheme. "To provide relief to Micro, Small and Medium industries in the form of loans without collateral, the government had announced a scheme by name COVID Relief and Upliftment Scheme (CORUS) to be implemented by Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC) with an allotment of Rs.200 crores. Till date, 799 MSME units have been sanctioned loans exceeding Rs.102 crores under this scheme."
"Additionally", he noted, "the government has written to the Union Finance Minister to allot adequate funds to TIIC through SIDBI to provide loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises units. The government has also written to the Prime Minister and Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari to sanction a special Rehabilitation package for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. All the efforts have fructified and the Union Government has announced a very comprehensive package to revive Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises."
Informing more about the government's measures to the MSMEs, he said, "The Chief Secretary and the departmental Secretaries have been asked to study the incentives and to identify measures to ensure that MSMEs in the State benefit substantially."
The Chief Minister has also instructed to convene the State Level Bankers Committee meeting to expedite the implementation of the relief schemes announced by the Union Government.