Outreach programme: gst-hit msmes get 12-piece diwali gift set from prime minister.

Bogged down by the twin blows of demonetisation and the goods and services tax (GST), the country's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on Friday received a shot in the arm, with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling 12 steps to support these employment-intensive units. Modi announced 59-minute loan sanctions, relaxation in labour laws, easier compliance with environmental rules and changes in company laws for the benefit of MSMEs.

GST-registered MSMEs will now be sanctioned loan up to Rs 1 crore in just 59 minutes through a new portal (more than 72,000 such MSME loan requests have already been approved); interest rates on loans taken by such MSMEs will be 2% lower than market rates for fresh and incremental loans up to Rs 1 crore. Also, MSME exporters availing loans during the pre-shipment and post-shipment period will get interest rebate of 5% instead of 3% earlier. Besides, it will now be mandatory for all government entities and PSUs to have 25% procurement from MSMEs, against 20% now and 3% sourcing by PSUs would have to be done from MSMEs run by women.

To rid the sector of inspector raj, Modi announced that inspections of MSME factories will be sanctioned only through a computerised random allotment to avoid discretion.

Further, inspectors will have to upload reports on a portal within 48 hours. "No inspector can now go anywhere (without the allotment). He will be asked why he went to a factory," Modi said. MSMEs will now need a single air and water clearance and just one consent to establish a factory.

Among other relaxations, MSMEs will have to file just one annual return (instaed of two at...