The enterprising Bhatia community is well renowned for its illustrious businessmen and their success stories. They are spread across the seven seas and some of them continue to make the community proud even today. But all this is about to change. Change in a bigger and better way! The Panjo Taano edition held last year has already given the community a sheer idea of what our Bhatia women are capable of. SomeBhatia women personalities like Premlila Thackersey, Sumati Morarjee, Dr. Swaroop Sampat Rawal, Asha Khatau, Sobha Asar, Hansa Vithani have made a great name for themselves and made the whole samaaj proud. They have set a precedence for the women of the younger generation to follow their dreams and aspire to achieve great success.

New generation businesses are different and lean from what have been pursued traditionally. Women are known to display their entrepreneurial prowess with home-based industries and micro setups, many of which have become major brands. But in a hostile business environment as of today, while the whole world is grappling under serious economic effects caused by a worldwide pandemic, MSMEs will continue to make sense. Government initiatives such as Make in India and Vocal for Local are only adding further fuel to the MSME movement.

We are glad toshare with all Bhatia women entrepreneurs, various subsidies announced by the Maharashtra Government under the MSME category. This is not only good encouragement but also empower women to shift their momentum in top gear with their entrepreneurial ventures.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS – Various Subsidies by Maharashtra Government

Maharashtra Government is giving various subsidies to encourage Women Entrepreneurs viz.

1. Maharashtra Industrial Policy
2. Women Entrepreneur Policy
3. Textile Policy
4. Technology Upgradation Policy
5. Capital Link Subsidy
6. Cold Storage Subsidy & various Other subsidy relating to Manufacturing units

Women join Manufacturing Units in larger numbers, therefore there is a Women Entrepreneur policy in force in Maharashtra from 10.11.2017 to 09.11.2022. Government has divided various cities of the state in different zones depending upon their development viz. Zone A, B,C,D,D+,No Industrial Cities. Zone which is developed, there will be less subsidy and vice versa.

For taking benefits of Women Entrepreneur Policy, main conditions are like 100% shareholding of the company need to be with Women shareholders only. That unit needs to be in the MSME category (MSME means Micro, Small, medium as per MSMED Act,2006 and recent amendments) and those units must have a minimum 50% employees a woman only.

Now, you think that the said subsidy will be given on what basis, this subsidy will be given on the basis of Capital Investment in the Units. Capital Investment means Investment done in Land, Factory Shed, Building Constructions, Plant and Machinery, Technical Know-how. Investment done in the said things will be counted as Capital Investments. So subsidy will be given of some percentage of Capital investment done and that will be given over a period of years. If your units have activity of manufacturing related to Food products etc, you get further subsidy.

ZONE WISE SUBSIDY : 

Subsidy will be at the end of the years by way of Reimbursement. Subsidy will be given on the basis of Gross SGST working. For Eg. If Manufacturing Unit is in C Zone and in Non-Food Manufacturing Products and Capital Investment is of Rs. 3 Crore, so subsidy will be eligible for 70% over a period of 7 years and you get a total subsidy of 2.10 Crore. Each year will get the subsidy of Rs. 30 Lakhs by way of reimbursement. As said the subsidy will be on the basis of working, so how much the gross SGST, have you taken loan over a Project, so on the basis of 5% interest, how much interest on the basis of 5% interest, what is Light bill for the full year. For Eg. If Unit Gross SGST for the year is 25 lakhs, Annual Interest according to 5% rate say 8 Lakhs, Annual Light Bill is 6 Lakh, so 25 lakh +6 Lakh (Which is lower as compared to Light Bill and Interest) = 31 lakh, so your eligible subsidy is 30 lakh, so you will get the subsidy after year. So if in a 3 Crore project, you get a subsidy of Rs. 2.10 Crore, so if you look your Investment in project is around 90 Lakhs + Income Tax on subsidy.

CASH SUBSIDY:

One time only, there is Cash Subsidy is also given to the manufacturing unit, its pertains to some percentage and there is maximum capping for the subsidy amount.

Additional Capital Subsidy – Cash Subsidy :

So this will be a Cash Subsidy which will be given on the basis of in which Zone, your Manufacturing unit is located. So from 20 Lakhs to 1 Crore, cash subsidy will be given.

POWER (ELECTRICITY) SUBSIDY :

Electricity bills arrive on the basis of how much units consumed and what isthe price of units. There will be a subsidy of about 50 paise per unit to manufacturing units for the first three years, so unit price is say Rs. 4/- per unit, so for the first three years, you need to pay Rs. 3.5 per unit. (In some zones, there is subsidy of Rs. 1/- per unit instead of 50 paise per unit)

PROVIDENT FUND :

50% of Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Contribution i.e. Owner Contribution,will be refunded for the first 5 years.

So, all the said subsidy will be given to the New Manufacturing unit.Existing Manufacturing units will get subsidy if there is major expansion, so Major Expansion means new investment in Plant & Machinery will be more than 50% of Original Investment in Plant & Machinery, so if there will be major expansion, existing units can take the advantage of subsidy.

So on the basis of movement of “Make in India” by Government of India, Government of Maharashtra is giving lots of subsidy advantage to manufacturing units to attract many units in state. So if we take advantage of all the said subsidy, we get benefits which will improve our Business Growth, Profit margin, Competitive price for products. So Women Entrepreneurs need to be active in manufacturing units because the Government needs active support of Women whether its parliament or Manufacturing Units, Indian women contribute in all the sectors of India.

About the Author :CA Sauumil Kapadia is a Mumbai based Chartered Accountant with 14 years of experience in the field of Business Advisory, Assurance services and Valuations.