SoS from MSMEs after banks issue auction notice to sick unit; Plea to extend moratorium

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
The MSMEs in the state are in a fix as the moratorium on loans is coming to an end on August 31 and many fear they can be tagged as non-performing assets by banks resulting in these units becoming ineligible for loans.

Not only that many of the MSMEs are being served notices by the banks for taking possession of their assets after they were being declared NPAs. Official sources told Express that bankers have been reportedly told in various platforms to help the industry. The state government is not for bankers issuing notices to the entrepreneurs during the testing times. "We will convey our concerns to the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) and the Reserve Bank of India through appropriate channels against issuing notices on stressed out units," he said.

Senthil Rajkumar whose company Super Shaper which was launched to cater to the huge demand of boilers and its components says he has been served a notice. A company which had 100 employees in the heydays is now left struggling and is on the verge of extinction after a bank issued a notice under Sarfaesi Act as his unit has turned Non Performing Asset (NPA).

"This unit in Trichy is only my bread and butter. I am getting large orders but don't have funds to buy raw materials. As such many orders are cancelled. On a whole, I require Rs 50,000 a month to ensure my unit survives. I take small orders worth Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month and hire contract workers to finish it," he says, adding that after spending on maintenance it is hand to mouth existence.

Senthil has sold all the jewellery and all he has left is the residence and the unit, "If the unit is taken, I don't have anything to survive," he says.

Interestingly, boiler units in and around Trichy have more or less the same story and they have been demanding a bailout package. Interestingly, the Centre has come out with a bailout package to help the MSME units struggling due to lockdown and various other economic factors while turning sick units from March 2018. But the bailout package leaves aside Senthil's and other boiler units which were dependent on BHEL for orders. "We want the bailout package extended till January 2016," says Senthil, adding that he was not in favour of waiving NPAs but wanted the bank to provide him a chance.

With the Atmanirbhar scheme and defence corridor taking shape, MSME units want banks to give the MSME sector time rather than initiate action against them when the entire globe is struggling economically due to Covid-19. Interesting Senthil is not the lone entrepreneur who is struggling. K V Kankambaram, president of Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association (IEMA) says that while the Centre wants to help the MSME sector, the banks are not forthcoming.

Interestingly, the state has formed a committee with representation of associations and bank officials to review the progress of Covid-19 package extended by the Union government through banks for MSMEs.

"The meeting, which was called on July 21 was postponed as only three representatives from State Bank of India, Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank agreed to participate," says Kanakambaram who has written a letter to RBI governor asking him to nominate the director of RBI, Chennai region, as member of the committee to attend the meeting.

He also urged the RBI intervention as banks are issuing possession notices to MSMEs. "I have urged the RBI governor, who also belongs to Tamil Nadu cadre of bureaucrats to stop such auction proceedings till the Corona pandemic situation eases," he says.

Meanwhile, Rajappa Rajkumar of Tamil Nadu Boilers Association told Express that he has requested the Prime Minister to come out with a rehabilitation bank to help the sick units. "We have urged a meeting with the Prime Minister to hear the plea of MSME units," he added.

V K Girish Pandian, president of National Confederation of Small Industry (NACOSI) and Committee member of the Collector’s panel to monitor Government financial schemes to MSME units told Express that the need of the hour is to give a helping hand to thousands of MSME units and special care to be given to the sick MSME units so apart from the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)  the government should come forward with a strong message to the banks to encourage the restructuring of MSME units and temporarily stop the SARFAESi notices to the MSMe units. He underlined the need for a committee similar to that in the finance ministry, which is monitoring the disbursement of ECLGS scheme, so that  banks and bank officials will come forward to help the sick units.

Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA) general secretary M Hindunathan told Express that MSMEs will be facing a huge challenge with the six-month moratorium coming to an end on August 31. "With no work taking place and no labour and exports already coming to a standstill, the MSMEs are afraid that bank will be branding many of them as non performing assets (NPAs)," says Hindunathan who has yet to receive payments from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for which he makes components. "The payments are due from a public sector unit. Imagine the plight of many such units who are dependent on payments from the private sector," says Hindunathan.

Interestingly, Tanstia is pushing for an additional three- month waiver on moratorium as no business has happened in the last six months. A key meeting is scheduled by the end of this month and Tanstia will raise the issue, he said. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced moratorium on term loan EMIs till August 31, 2020. Meanwhile, a state government official said that, "With appropriate redressal mechanism in place and with the involvement of RBI and SLBC the issues will be resolved."

Boxes:
What the state is doing to help MSMEs:
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme
In order to facilitate the Union government stimulus package to the MSMEs, the State Level Bankers Committee was convened on May 30, 2020 with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister presiding over the meeting with the Bankers. In pursuance to the meeting, under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) as on August 20, 2020, additional loan has been sanctioned to 2.40 lakh MSMEs for a sum of Rs. 7,517 crore. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra lead in sanction of loan under this scheme.

Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinated Debt (CGSSD):
The scheme is valid for MSME units which are stressed, viz. Special Mention Account  (SMA-2 ) and Non performing assets (NPA) accounts as on April 30, 2020 that are eligible for restructuring as per RBI guidelines on the books of the Lending institutions. The financial assistance provided as part of the scheme is to be operated as a separate loan account and the promoter needs to infuse the sub-debt or loan amount as promoter’s contribution in the form of equity (including sub-debt or quasi equity) into MSME entity. As on 20.08.2020 loan sanctioned to 582 MSMEs for a sum of Rs.109.74 crore in Tamil Nadu

COVID Relief and Upliftment Scheme (CORUS)
In order to provide relief to the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC) assisted MSMEs to resume their operation, from the impact of COVID-19, Chief Minister announced CORUS scheme on Mach 31, 2020. Under this scheme loan upto Rs. 25.00 lakh with 6 per cent interest subvention will be provided to the MSMEs without any additional collateral security. As the scheme is operated through online loan sanctions are given within 2 days. So far 1,158 MSMEs given loan sanctioned to the tune of Rs. 133.02 crore.



Why are ancillary units in Trichy struggling?
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ CHENNAI:
It was in the year 2012, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited gave hope of bright future for power sector and based on that most of the ancillary units went for expansion. Suddenly BHEL announced a shift in policy by which the ancillary units have to purchase the raw material on their own and have to fulfill the orders. The ancillary units went for working capital loan and the banks have extended helping hands to the units. Since, there is a cut throat competition among the units, BHEL stuck to the lower rates and insisted the other units to follow the lower rates which affected the profit margins.

Gradually, BHEL is unable to compete in the global tenders and now don't have much orders. What they have now is a very few new orders and some maintenance works in the existing thermal power plants. As the ancillary units are finding it too hard to repay the dues to banks, the financial institutions have started taking actions for recovery, official sources . It is learnt that Tamilnadu Boilers Association has filed a writ petition in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court with 27 banks. The case is still pending.

Sources say the major issue plaguing the ancillary units is lack of orders from BHEL as the defence corridor is yet to take shape and the alternate avenue o fabrication of wind mill towers is not promising.

2,300 passenegrs in 35 flights travelled in and out from Chennai airport

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
A total of around 2,300 passengers in 35 flights travelled in and out from Chennai Airport as domestic flight services resumed after two months of lockdown with operation to Maharshtra and Gujarat being stuck down due to rise in Coronavirus cases in the two states.

The schedule, which was reworked late in the night after initially the state government yielded to allow 25 flights a day, had the passengers flocking to the airport. However, many got disappointed as the new schedule had stuck down flights from Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the financial capital of india, due to rise in Coronavirus cases there. Chennai Airport sources told Express that flight to Gujarat and Maharshtra will resume soon.

A total of 16 flights arived in the city and 19 outbound services departed from the city. Initially, a total of 34 flights were originally scheduled to depart, as many as 15 of them were cancelled, including some of those to Mumbai and Delhi.

It was totally a differet experience for many a passengers as trolleys could not be availed and the entrance to the airport was monitored through a camera where in the tickets and identity cards are being scanned by the CISF.

The ticket pass was collected after scanning the ticket using the bar code. Even the baggage pass has to be availed by the passengers with airport staff guiding the passengers. The check-in happened an hour earlier.

Delhi-bound Indigo Airlines with 116 passengers was the first flight to

be operated from the airport at 6.40am. Initially, a total of 120 passngers were to board the flight but four passengers could not make it as they were taken for medical check-up. Meanwhile flight services to Thoothkudi and Tiruchy could not resume due to less number of passengers. Flights inbound and outbound also operated from Coimbatore, Madurai and Port Blair airports.

Meanwhile first arrival to Chennai was Air Asia flight carrying 29 pasengers from Delhi at 8.15am.

The passengers who arrived had to undergo thermal scanning. Their phone details were collected and they underwent medical checkup. The passengers were stamped with 'Quarantine' seal with date with edible ink before they are allowed to move out of airport. They later showed e-pass to CISF personnel and were allowed to depart the terminal. Those without e-pass were provided with one in two special counters being set up at the airport.

Meanwhile, a release from spicejet stated that the airline operated flights to Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Guwahati, Ahmedabad-Delhi, Delhi–Patna, Mumbai–Bengaluru, Chennai–Bengaluru, Varanasi–Jaipur, Bengaluru–Pune, Delhi–Srinagar, Udaipur–Ahmedabad, Jammu–Srinagar, Chennai–Madurai, Hyderabad–Jharsuguda, Hyderabad-Surat among others.

Airlines suspended Food and Beverage services on all its flights. Food and beverage consumption inside the flight is also not allowed.

However, the focus was also on the air circulation systems and the cabin airflow in aircraft as fear persisted over spread of Coronavirus in aircraft. Many airlines like spicejet in a bid to allay the fears of passengers stressed that the cabin air in the aircraft flows from top to bottom and gets absorbed at the bottom for filtration.

"Cabin air is constantly exchanged with a mix of 50 per cent outside air and 50 per cent filtered air. This air exchange happens every two to three minutes to ensure the availability of fresh and clean air. All our aircraft use a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter (like those found in hospitals) which removes up to 99.9 per cent of airborne particles like viruses and bacteria," claimed Spicejet.


41 flights scheduled for Tuesday
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ CHENNAI:
Chennai Airport said that a total of 41 flights, which include both inbound and outbound, have been scheduled on Tuesday.
These include flights to Thoothkudi, Tiruchirapalli, Hyderabad, Bagdogra and Vijaywada.
Flights to Thoothkudi was not scheduled on Monday and to Tiruchy was cancelled due to lack of passengers. Hyderabad and Vijaywada are also in the itinerary.

writingonblog uncensored: Lockdown has resulted in 75pc drop in trade volume...

writingonblog uncensored: Lockdown has resulted in 75pc drop in trade volume...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: The lockdown has impacted nearly 75 per cent drop in trade volumes in the three ports across Chennai and electro...

Lockdown has resulted in 75pc drop in trade volumes in Chennai Ports, says report

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
The lockdown has impacted nearly 75 per cent drop in trade volumes in the three ports across Chennai and electronic and automobile industries have been impacted the most because of imports from China, according to a report by Tamil Nadu Association of SEZ Infrastructure Developers (TASID).

According to TASID, storage facilities and warehouses are all full Inventory isn’t moving out due to industries shutting down, the report said that ports across India experienced 60 drop in volume by the middle of March.

The report also states that there is reduced demand for logistics because production across sectors has come down. Currently demand through Free Trade Zone is very low since majority of industries is hurt.

Stating that there are opportunities for domestic manufacturers to step in and fill the supply void as foreign companies are wanting to stop their manufacturing units in China, the report also stated that electronic and automobile industries have been impacted the most during lockdown because of imports from China.

The report also stated that  export performance by Export Oriented Units  was at its peak in 2016-17 However there is a decline in the performance for two consecutive years.

Stating that the present system of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) online doesn't facilitate exports since Domestic Tarrif Area (DTA) exporters supplying goods to SEZ units are unable to get their export entitlements without having to go through manual process, TASID said that payment of customs duty online should be made possible and approval and compliance process be made 100 digital by Integration of SEZ online with ICEGATE System, the e-commerce portal of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

The report also states that Tamil Nadu tops the chart of operational SEZs with 75 per cent of its SEZs functioning without any hitch Tamil Nadu has 52 SEZs of which 39 are operational.

writingonblog uncensored: Migrant workers denied salaries as labour contract...

writingonblog uncensored: Migrant workers denied salaries as labour contract...: C Shivakumar @ Chennai: (Pix Devdatta) Contractors, who have hired migrant workers in the construction sites of developers have not paid ...

Migrant workers denied salaries as labour contractors, sub-contractors, developers involved in blame game

C Shivakumar @ Chennai: (Pix Devdatta)
Contractors, who have hired migrant workers in the construction sites of developers have not paid them their due salaries leaving these workers and their families in lurch during the lockdown.

After Express highlighted the plight of migrant workers in a site in Ayanambakkam, who were not paid for the last two months, a few of them got one-month salary but many were left high and dry resulting in these migrant workers protesting.

Interestingly, the issue of non-payment salaries to migrant workers has resulted in blame-game between the contractors, sub-contractors and developers with none taking the responsibility.

Thirty-three year old Bhagirathi, a carpenter from Chappra district in Bihar and a father of two children who started working in the site from November, told Express that he was paid the salary for the month of February and it was a huge relief for his.

But many of his colleagues have been left in lurch. Twenty-eight-year-old Krishnakumar from Chattrapur in Madhya Pradesh said his contractor Joginder did not pay him the salary for Februray and March.

"I had taken a loan of Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000 as loan for my marriage. Now these peope call me often asking me to pay back the money. Here officials are promising us to may but the payment never happens. Even my parents and wife is worried. Atleast they could have made arrangement for us to go back home as no work is happening," he rues.

Same is the plight of Rohit Kumar, 35, who is married and has a daughter, who are staying with his mother and father. "They are solely dependent on my earnings to buy food provisions, says Kumar, a carpenter, who hails from Banda district in Uttar Pradesh. "They have to pay two month salary of Rs 50,000," he says.

Interestingly, Joginder is a sub-contracter who provides manpower to other organisation belonging to Bhavesh Patel. Joginder told Express that he has yet to get money from the conractor then only he could pay the workers. The developer who pays the contractor told Express that they have a month credit-cycle and payment has been made to the contractors.

"These contractors are responsible to the workers they hired. It is not the responsibility of developers. Despite this we are providing the migrant workers with food allowance," says the developer.

It is learnt that the contractor makes a huge profit by supplying the workers. "They should have worked out an alternative for difficult times. I  have to pay my employees at this difficult times. I can't say that the EMIs are not being paid so I won't pay them. The responsibility lies solely on the contractors. They are using this to blackmail us," he says.

Kumar says the workers around 300 of them protested for two hours following which a police officer intervened and held talks with the supervisor who promised to that the isuue will be sorted out within a week.

"Now we are hoping that we are paid the salary after a week. Most of our families are in distress," says Kumar.

writingonblog uncensored: TN preparing operational guidelines to kickstart e...

writingonblog uncensored: TN preparing operational guidelines to kickstart e...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: Industries in the state are awaiting clarity from the state to kickstart the activity after Centre gave green ligh...

IATA offering free access to online training courses

Geneva:
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is offering free access to online training courses for up to 5,000 aviation workers as part of its efforts to help the industry through the COVID-19 crisis.  

Current employees—or those who wish to become a part of the aviation or related industries--can select one from six of IATA’s most popular e-learning courses to strengthen their industry knowledge and skills:


    Aviation Competition Law
    Destination Geography
    Travel Agency Fees: A Professional Approach
    Accounting and Financial Management for Travel Agencies
    Geography in Travel Planning
    Distribution and Airline Retailing


‘’Aviation will make it through the COVID-19 crisis. That’s because, as with past crises, the many great people of this industry will pull together to face the challenges head-on. In a salute to the women and men of this industry, IATA is making a small contribution to support the sector’s recovery with free training. These are tough times but we wanted to see the opportunity of the future, and what better way than through learning,” said Stéphanie Siouffi, IATA’s Director of Training.

Courses will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis for 5,000 online training opportunities. Applications must be received before 27 April 2020. To learn more or register for an online course, www.iata.org/en/training-staystrong.

TN preparing operational guidelines to kickstart economy

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
Industries in the state are awaiting clarity from the state to kickstart the activity after Centre gave green light for for a phased restart of economy during the lockdown by issuing guidelines.

B C Datta, Convenor, Ease of Doing Business Panel of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Tamil Nadu and Hyundai vice-president told Express that Industries are discussing with the state government on what all procedures should be taken to bring back the workforce post-lockdown following the categorisation of hotspots in the state.

"We are looking at options as any further delay in manufacturing will be financially stressful," said Datta. he said while pharmaceuticals and agriculture department has clear guidelines, the automobile sector lacks clarity as it is not only one unit but the vendors also have to start production.

A government official said that the state is working on operational guidelines which would be announced prior to April 20.

Meanwhile, Industry chambers have welcomed the move by the Centre. K Hari Thiagarajan, Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu State Council welcomed the guidelines issued by the Central Government which are extremely relevant and give comfort to industry about the phased restart of the economy.  "CII welcomes the strategic relaxation of key economic activities from 20 April as opening of manufacturing facilities in rural areas will provide a lot of relief to small enterprises and workers," he said.

Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, President of The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) said that keeping the engines of the economy running is important to balance both lives and livelihood.

Thanking the government for announcing these relaxations with important guidelines around protecting the health and wellbeing of employees, MCCI said that industries will use the period from April 20 to May 3 as an opportunity to slow-crank the engine with limited person-power from the same locality or neighborhood, and in a calibrated fashion, ready themselves for expanded operations in the weeks and months ahead.

"It is important that the industries behave responsibly during this period as they shoulder an equal if not bigger responsibility to make the lockdown exit seamless and scalable,” he said.

Meanwhile, Confederation of Real estate Developers Association of India has urged the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to open the construction sector during the lockdown. During a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam and Housing secretary Rajesh lakhani, Credai chiarman S Sridharan has ensured social distancing will be maintained and due care will be given for hygienic environment for staff and workers. he also urged the state to permit movement or transport of steel and cement to construction sites.

According to KPMG, total projects worth more than Rs 59,000 billion in India are under development, most of which would have been impacted severely by COVID-19. the report has stated India’s goal of becoming a USD5 trillion economy rests on the construction of critical infrastructure under the National Infrastructure Plan.

Meanwhile, Forum for IT Employees (FITE) has raised concern over the centre allowing allowing IT industry to function with 50 per cent of workforce. "IT companies are working in centralized air conditioned rooms which has all the possibilities of becoming the hotspot of corona virus spread as the Metro cities and municipal corporations like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune are in the corona virus affected red zones," said Parimala, president of FITE.

She said the the order of Ministry of Home Affairs to allow IT Industry to function with 50 per cent workers is not advisable considering the scale of pandemic. Moreover IT Industry is functioning without much disturbance for business with Work from home option during the lock down, she added.

writingonblog uncensored: TN to use equipment from academic institutions to ...

writingonblog uncensored: TN to use equipment from academic institutions to ...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: In a bid to increase testing capacity in its laboratories, the state government will be transferring real time re...

TN to use equipment from academic institutions to boost testing in health institutions

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
In a bid to increase testing capacity in its laboratories, the state government will be transferring real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment from seven universities to health institutions.

The Higher education secretary has written to the registrars of the Madras University, Bharatiar University, Bharatidasan varsity, Periyar University, Manonamaniam Sundarnar University, Madurai Kamaraj University and Alagappa University to temporarily divert equipment which was earlier used for academic purpose.  

This comes after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide COVID-19 rapid test kits and a grant of ₹1,000 crore immediately to procure medical and protective materials.

Currently, Madras University has four equipments, including a Quant Studio 5 RT-PCR equipment which will be diverted to State Public Health Laboratory in DMS Campus, Stanley Medical College, Kilpauk Medical College and CDH Tondiarpet.

Similarly, Bharatiar University, which has five such equipment including a Quant Studio 5 euipment, will be diverting it to Coimbatore Medical College, Tirunelveli medical college, ESI Government Medical college and IRT Government Medical College while Bharatidasan University which has two such equipment will be diverting it to Medical College Trichy.

Meanwhile two equipments in Periyar will be transferred to Medical College, Karur and salem, one in Manonmaniam Sundarnar University will be transfeed to Medical College, Tirunelveli, two in Madurai Kamaraj University will be transferred to Medical college Theni and Medical college in Madurai. The equipment in Alagappa University will be provided to Sivaganga Medical College.

The COVID-19 RT-PCR equipment couold be used as a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(rRT-PCR) test for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in upper and lower respiratory specimens (such as nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swabs, sputum, lower respiratory tract aspirates, bronchoalveolar lavage, and nasopharyngeal wash/aspirate or nasal aspirate) collected from individuals suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider.

The machines has been mandated to be handled by hospital technicians and the required consumables will be arranged by the health department.

writingonblog uncensored: Electronic documents for clearing imports during l...

writingonblog uncensored: Electronic documents for clearing imports during l...: CHENNAI: In a move that will help movement of essential goods and commodities through customs following the lockdown due to Covid 19 Pand...

Electronic documents for clearing imports during lockdown allowed by CBIC

CHENNAI:
In a move that will help movement of essential goods and commodities through customs following the lockdown due to Covid 19 Pandemic, the Union Finance Ministry has allowed importers and customs brokers to give electronic out of charge copies of bill of entry and eGatepass from April 15.

This will ease the difficulties posed during the Covid 19 pandemic by reducing interface or contact with authorities and will enable easier movement of goods to move out of customs areas after checks, besides reducing costs, a customs official told Express.

The official said that this is a big boost to expedite trade and prevent corruption
. "Now Customs Department will be working with International standards," the official said.

The circular by Central Board of Indirec Taxes and Customs, which was issued to all Principal Chief Commissioners of Customs on Monday states that the specific measures that reduce interface between the Customs authorities and the importers, exporters and Customs Brokers are especially relevant in these challenging times, to tackle the scourge of Covid-19 pandemic.

"This electronic passes will replace physically signed documents and do away with the requirement of taking bulky printouts from the service centre, and maintenance of voluminous physical dockets in the customs houses," the circular stated.

writingonblog uncensored: MSME plea to Finance Minister not to impose NPA no...

writingonblog uncensored: MSME plea to Finance Minister not to impose NPA no...: CHENNAI: The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has urged the Union Finance Minister Niramala Seetharaman to direct Reserve bank of Indi...

MSME plea to Finance Minister not to impose NPA norms for two years post lockdown

CHENNAI:
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has urged the Union Finance Minister Niramala Seetharaman to direct Reserve bank of India and the banks not to impose Non Performing Assets (NPA) norms for MSME units for a period of two years post-Covid-19 lockdown.

K V Kanakambaram, president of The Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association said that it will take more than six months to one year for MSME sector to be revived post lockdown as all are dependant on big companies for orders to survive.

"We feel that at this crucial time, the three months moratorium of interest and principal will not be sufficient for this sector as all the units will face severe liquidity crunch and majority of the units in the MSME sector will be forced to close down," Kanakambaram said.

He also urged the Finance Minister to instruct the RBI and all the banks to provide financial packages for MSME sectors with a long repayment period of 60 months with at attractive interest rate of 7 per cent for the MSME sector for all types of loans including working capital loans, terms loans, mortgage loans, term loans for machinery etc since all these loans have been given by taking sufficient collateral loans from the entrepreneurs.

MSME entrepreneurs during the times of crisis always will take it as a personal issue and settle the loans whenever the loans turn NPA by selling the house, land and jewels and again start and MSME unit, therefore the banks don’t have to fear about the loans not being recovered from our MSME community, he said in a letter to Union Finance Minister.

writingonblog uncensored: Now fresh vegetables at your door step; CMDA ties ...

writingonblog uncensored: Now fresh vegetables at your door step; CMDA ties ...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: In a bid to ensure social distancing is maintained in crowded areas and provide essentials through mobile carts, ...

Now fresh vegetables at your door step; CMDA ties up with Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo; Launches 100 mobile carts to cater to flats, societies

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
In a bid to ensure social distancing is maintained in crowded areas and provide essentials through mobile carts, the Market Management Committee along with Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo has started delivering
vegetables at the doorstep at a reasonable rate.

A Market Management Committee official told Express that the initiative was taken to ensure social distancing is being maintained in the crowded.

The idea is to distribute 30 tonnes of vegetables per day using around 100 vehicles to every nook and corner of the city. "The vehicles will be sent to housing societies, residential areas and flats where there is minimum demand from 25 families," the official said.

The idea is to keep the crowd away from the Koyambedu market and also ensure vegetables are provided to people at a reasonable rate, the MMC official told Express.

On Wednesday, a total of 35 vehicles vehicles had been distributing vegetables. "We sold all vegetables except onions, potatoes and cabbage. We are not involving CMDA officials in sales and procurement of vegetables. rather taking the help of cooperative societies staff and daily wage workers," the official said.

Similarly, MMC says they have tied up with Swiggy, Dunzo and Zomato. "Today, Zomato has been selling the vegetables as the service is now available in their app. We are in talks with Swiggy and Dunzo and we expect them to be part of the initiative from Thursday," said the official.

Meanwhile, another official told Express that in the initial stages there were hiccups as some orders directly came through Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority website. "Since these were individual orders, we will be redirecting it to Swiggy or Zomato. These hiccups will be there initially and it will be sorted out soon," the official added.

Pratap Premnath, City Operations Head - Online Ordering at Zomato Chennai, said that it is their first such endeavour and a positive one with about 15 to 20 per cent of groceries include vegetables from Koyambedu wholesale market. "We have tied up with Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. The endeavour is more people centric and we our using our vast fleet of riders to supply vegetables. We have three different combo packs starting from Rs 220," he said.

Premanath says the margins are not that high as those in processsed and cooked food. S Chandran, Market management Committee Licensed Merchants Association President and Anaithu Sangankalin Kootamaipu general secretary, told Express that he welcomed the initiative as it would help in maintaining social distancing and provide fresh vegetables to far off places where people are devoid of it.

writingonblog uncensored: India's auto hub to help medical equipment makers ...

writingonblog uncensored: India's auto hub to help medical equipment makers ...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: The auto hub of India is all geared to help manufacture ventilators for the entire country by tying up with medic...

India's auto hub to help medical equipment makers ramp up manufacturing of ventilators

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
The auto hub of India is all geared to help manufacture ventilators for the entire country by tying up with medical equipment makers to ramp up their production of ventilators to combat Covid-19.

Car major Hyundai has tied up French company Air Liquide to ramp up their production while another car manufacturer Nissan has tied up with Trivitron to ramp up its capacity of manufacturing ventilators.

"The ventilators manufactured by Trivitron and Air Liquide will not only be delivered to the state hospitals but acrosss India to combat Covid-19," Industry sources said.

This comes after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami came out with a fresh package of incentives to promote manufacturing medical equipment and drugs.

Speaking to Express Hyundai vice-president B C Datta confirmed to Express that they have tied up with French ventilators maker Air Liquide to ramp up their production. "With France battling Covid-19, we have taken it upon ourselves to provide Air Liquide with adequate support, electronic gadgets and supply chain to manufacture the ventilators," said Datta.

"Usually, Air Liquide was making 30 to 40 ventilators a month. Now we are ramping up their facilities so that they can provide the same in a day. The facility is already there and once the ramp up is done, the manufacturing will start by the beginning of next month or by the end," said Datta.

Similarly, Trivitron with the help of Nissan will be ramping up their manufacturing facility to provide ventilators for the state and India.

Sources told Express that while the timeline for ventilators has been given till July 31, the first set of ventilators is likely to be manufactured by end of next month or beginning of June.

A industry department source confirmed to Express that the Trivitron and Air Liquide has come forward and the state will be supporting them with working capital.

Apart from that the state is also gearing up its production of N-95 masks. VENUS Safety & Health Pvt Ltd, a global quality manufacturer of Neck-up Personal Protective Equipments (PPE), have come forward to manufacture N-95 masks. Similarly, the Personal Protective Equipments will be manufactured in Tiruppur and Coimbatore for entire country and the state.

"These PPEs are likely to be manufactured in a week once the specifications are given," a Industry source added.

This comes after a special incentive package has been sanctioned for the manufacture of ventilators, PPE kits, N-95 masks, multi-para monitors, anti-malarial and anti-viral drugs in the State. The incentives are applicable to both large industries and MSMEs.

writingonblog uncensored: Koyambedu vegetable traders in Chennai caught in d...

writingonblog uncensored: Koyambedu vegetable traders in Chennai caught in d...: CHENNAI: Koyambedu Wholesale vegetable market traders are in a dilemna. Vegetable stocks are arriving but there are no takers as the regula...

Koyambedu vegetable traders in Chennai caught in dilemma

CHENNAI:

Koyambedu Wholesale vegetable market traders are in a dilemna. Vegetable stocks are arriving but there are no takers as the regular supply to hotels, hostels, canteens and retail vegetable markets is hit. With the drop in profits and sales, the vegetable traders have demanded that the market be closed for two-days beginning Friday.



S Chandran, Market management Committee Licensed Merchants Association President and Anaithu Sangankalin Kootamaipu general secretary told Express that initially hey had announced two-day closure of market beginning from Friday. However, the government intervend and asked the traders to keep the market open as it will result in the rise in price of vegetables.



As a result, the market will remain open. What is more is that the government has ensured that retail markets in T Nagar, Ambattur, Avadi, Mylapore, Tamabaram and other places of city will remain open thus doing away with the fear of non-availability of vegetables n Chennai during the 21-day lockdown.



A top Market Management Committee official told Express that the traders had put forth their demands to open the supply chain and the government will open the retail markets as they claim nearly more than a tonne of vegetable is getting wasted.



Meanwhile, Chandran has said the labourers working in the market will be provided free food by the traders. "We have ensured that the labourers who are key in loading and unloading the vegetables will be provided with food," he said.



To a query on whether the retail market in the wholesale market will function, he said they have sought permission from the government to keep it open. he said that masks and sanitisers will have to be provided to the workers by traders. he also said the traders have put forth demand to have scanners to screen vistors and workers for Coronavirus symptoms.



He also said the government should ensure the traders as well as workers who are key in ensuring the supply of vegetables across the city don't get Coronavirus by screening and testing them.

writingonblog uncensored: Now foreign returnees after Feb 15 will be put und...

writingonblog uncensored: Now foreign returnees after Feb 15 will be put und...: CHENNAI: Now persons who have arrived in India after February 15, 2020 will have to remain under home quarantine, according to a new Gov...

writingonblog uncensored: Lockdown impacts essential services as CII plea to...

writingonblog uncensored: Lockdown impacts essential services as CII plea to...: CHENNAI: The lockdown has resulted in impacting the supply of essential services across the city and state as Confederation of Indian Indus...

Lockdown impacts essential services as CII plea to ease restriction on movement of essential goods

CHENNAI:
The lockdown has resulted in impacting the supply of essential services across the city and state as Confederation of Indian Industry has urged the government to make concerted efforts to ease out the restriction imposed on movement  of essential goods within the State and also inter-State, which would help business continuity at this time of crisis.

COVID19 crisis poses specific challenge in large process industries where skilled people are required to sustain the operations. Engaging labourers for critical industries, accommodation, food and other arrangements for labourers who need to stay to take care of the factory are some of the issues faced by Industry members, said C K Ranganathan, Deputy Chairman, CII Southern Region and K Hari Thiagarajan, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council.

The lockdown has posed challenges to ship surveyors, who find it difficult to reach the port due to police crackdown, says Executive director of Admiralty Marine Services, Captain R M Kapoor.

Kapoor says that ship surveyors who play a crucial role before loading and offloading of cargo by certifying the quality and quantity of cargo are facing challenges as their movement is restricted by the cops. "We urge the police commissioner and director general of police that port operations and its workers come essential services and they are key to ensure the essential cargo which is required by the country is supplied. We request the movement of ship surveyors are not restricted who have been sacrifing their lives during the lockdown to perform their services," he added. "We hope the police overdrive will be toned down," he added. 

The imposition of the lockdown has left many small retail shops forced to forego milk, which was supplied to residents in the nook and corner of the streets. Milk suppliers highlighted the inability of collect money from the shops in the evening after delivering milk in the morning following the lockdown and police harassment. This means the supplies of milk at the homes in the street will be hit. Similar is the story of vegetables where the retail markets have been shut. Now government is making efforts to open these shops.

"There are several evidences that substantiate the fact that COVID-19 has been impacting the Indian industry and economy adversely, with significant implications on the sustainability of businesses and employment.  Some major sectors such as electronics, automobiles, entertainment, transport, tourism, and exports are in trouble due to the disruption in the global supply chain and routine operations," says Ranganathan.

He said industry expects support from the State Government at this hour of need in fulfilling the export commitments, GST payment, Electricity payments, Freight services, movement of specific items like packaged foods,  medical equipment and drugs, capital requirement besides funding support.

Now foreign returnees after Feb 15 will be put under home quarantine

CHENNAI:
Now persons who have arrived in India after February 15, 2020 will have to remain under home quarantine, according to a new Government Order by Revenue and Distater Management superseding the GO issued by Health department and Family Welfare department on March 23.

Earlier, the GO from health department has said that all suspected cases or foreign returnees, who arrived after March 1 will be directed to undergo home quarantine, Now it has been extended till February 15, 2020. This would mean those who returned after Febrary 15 will be subjected to home quarantine failing which they will be liable for legal action under Section 188 of Indian Penal code.

The new Go also states that during funerals, congregation of not more than 20 people will be permitted. This was absent in the earlier GO. The GO also exempts IT and IT enabled services (For essential purposes only), telecommunications, internet services, broadcasting and cable to operate during the lockdown period. It also permits essential construction activities subject to disease prevention measures as per protocol and continous monitoring and health status of workers.