Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 2: The Association of Large and Medium Enterprises (ALME) today urged the Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goel to extend the New Central Sector Scheme (NCSS) for industry in Jammu and Kashmir, beyond September 2024.
In this regard a meeting was held here in Jammu, in which the members of association discussed the impact and potential of the NCSS.
Association said, “The said scheme has demonstrated a significant positive effect on industrial investment and employment opportunities in J&K. The overwhelming response to the NCSS has resulted in numerous investment proposals materializing, with many prestigious projects currently in the pipeline despite numerous problems in procurement of land for industry.”
The NCSS originally announced to reimburse GSTLI up to 300 percent of the eligible value of investment in plant and machinery and other durable physical assets over a period of 10 years.
The NCSS, as originally notified, prescribes GST Linked Incentives (GSTLI) at 100% of the gross GST amount, encompassing both GST paid in cash and through input tax credit.
The recent proposal by the Steering Committee to amend this to a net GST basis, potentially coupled with a cap, is viewed as contrary to the initial intent of the scheme.
Such a change could substantially diminish the value of the incentives, making it challenging for many units, particularly those with lower value addition products, to remain viable.
The impact of this potential change is exacerbated by several factors specific to J&K, including Higher Land Costs, Higher Logistics Costs, Increased Production Costs & Elevated Allied Services Costs as J&K is at tail end of the country.
Furthermore, those still engaged in tedious process of land acquisition or awaiting necessary clearances would also be disadvantaged if the scheme is not extended, allocation is not increased or if the incentive structure is not retained in its present form.
The association in a letter written to the Commerce Minister requested for the extension of the NCSS in J&K, beyond September 2024 with higher allocations.
The meeting was attended by Satish Koul, Harinder Gupta, Vinod Sachdeva, Suraj Bansal, Prem Dewan and Sahil Mahajan.
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