Bikky Khosla | 03 May, 2022
The MSME ministry last week launched a revamped Zero
Defect, Zero Effect (ZED) scheme. The erstwhile
ZED scheme was launched in October 2016, with an objective to boost MSMEs'
competitiveness, by reducing wastage in their manufacturing process, increasing
their productivity while enhancing the environmental consciousness. Under the
new scheme, a number of changes have been introduced for further benefit of the
sector.
Under the new scheme, the parameters that must be
met for certification have been reduced from 50 in the previous scheme to 20.
According to a top official, this decision has been taken after considering
feedback received from MSMEs and industry associations which pointed out
difficulties in complying with all 50 parameters. The official, however, added
that there will be no compromise on the quality and safety of products despite
the changes.
It is proposed to provide an 80% subsidy on the
certification cost for micro enterprises, 60% for small enterprises, and 50%
for medium enterprises. Also, there will be an additional subsidy
of 10% for the MSMEs owned by women/SC/ST entrepreneurs or MSMEs in
NER/Himalayan/LWE/Island territories/aspirational districts. There will be an
additional subsidy of 5% for MSMEs which are also a part of the SFURTI or MSE -
Cluster Development Programme.
The changes are welcome. According to a recent report, the Centre's
expenditure
on ZED scheme was not encouraging in FY22, with nothing spent as of
December-end out of the total allocated fund of Rs 16 crore for the financial
year, due to redesigning of the scheme. Now with the changes finally introduced,
we expect that the situation will improve, with MSMEs benefitting further from
it. The scheme will succeed only if its implementation succeeds.
I
invite your opinions.