Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to revamp the credit guarantee scheme with an infusion of Rs 9,000 crore and a reduction of interest rate by about 1 per cent.
“The revamped scheme will take effect from 1st April 2023 through the infusion of Rs 9,000 crore in the corpus. This will enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of Rs 2 lakh crore. Further, the cost of the credit will be reduced by about 1 per cent,” Sitharaman said announcing the Union Budget 2023-24.
Relief in contracts
In cases of failure by MSMEs to execute contracts during the Covid period, 95 per cent of the forfeited amount relating to bid or performance security, will be returned to them by government and government undertakings, she said, adding that this will provide relief to MSMEs.
Moreover, to support MSMEs in timely receipt of payments, the government has allowed deduction for expenditure incurred on payments made to them only when payment is actually made.
To settle contractual disputes of government and government undertakings, wherein the arbitral award is under challenge in a court, a voluntary settlement scheme with standardized terms will be introduced. This will be done by offering graded settlement terms depending on the pendency level of the dispute.
cent.
Tax sops
Micro enterprises with a turnover up to Rs 2 crore and certain professionals with a turnover of up to Rs 50 lakh can avail the benefit of presumptive taxation. I propose to provide enhanced limits of Rs 3 crore and Rs 75 lakh respectively, to the taxpayers whose cash receipts are no more than 5 per cent.
