Budget 2018-19 - entrepreneurship : loan facilities for start-ups, young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs

Pravind Jugnauth declared that the government will always stand by the Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs). He announced that the government will be addressing one of the biggest concerns of these enterprises, which is access to finance.

• DBM will earmark an amount of Rs 1 billion to support the MSMEs through a set of schemes.
• It will offer loan facilities for start-ups, young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs at an interest rate of 3 percent;
• It will provide loans of up to Rs 3 million to planters engaging in sheltered farming at an interest rate of 3 percent, with a moratorium on capital repayment in the first year;
• It will offer loan up to a maximum of Rs 1 million to operators of organic farms with a moratorium of 2 years, on capital repayment, depending on the project;
• DBM will operate an Enterprise Modernisation Scheme aimed at providing finance lease facilities to MSMEs with turnover up to Rs 10 million to modernize their plant and equipment
• DBM will operate a factoring window aimed at providing quick working capital to MSMEs by discounting their invoices;
• To ease the cash flow of businesses, a VAT-registered person will not be required to pay VAT on import of machinery and equipment, if the amount payable is Rs 150,000 or more.
• The DBM will also provide non-financial support to the MSMEs through a new Hand-holding and Mentoring cell.