By IANS,
Kolkata : The West Bengal government is mulling the introduction of credit cards on the lines of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), an official said Wednesday.
“It is the constant endeavour of the government to provide credit to the sector. Similar to the KCC we intend to introduce a credit card subject to clearance by authorities concerned, for providing standing credit to the enterprises,” said Anup K Chanda, additional chief secretary, department of MSME and textiles.
“There is no credit card facility for the sector. Although some banks do extend the facility, it is available only after the enterprise has completed three years of existence. With this mechanism we want to address the problems the organisations face just after inception or at the neo-natal stage.
“Right from the commencement of operations they will be entitled to some amount of credit which would increase with passage of time,” he said.
Chanda, who also heads a state level standing advisory committee on textile MSMEs, said the panel would meet Friday to discuss the problems related to the sector, including capacity development, credit access and marketing.
State MSME Minister Manas Bhunia said along with land, high electricity tariffs and lack of infrastructure – especially roads – are the main problems which the sector faced. He also advocated a district level advisory committee for tackling the sector’s problems at the micro level.
On the integrated textile park at Howrah, Bhunia said: “There are problems relating to land but we are trying our best to solve it. I believe there is nothing that cannot be solved through negotiations and discussion.”
The proposed textile park, with an initial investment of Rs 550 crore, was to come up on 100 acres of land in Howrah’s Sankrail.
Bengal Integrated Textile Park Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), had been formed by the erstwhile Left Front government to develop the project. However the project is facing problems due to land acquisition.