2nd relief package approved to revive J&K’s economy

To tackle the slowdown of the economy due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Administrative Council (AC) which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, G C Murmu, in a focused policy intervention aimed to address concerns amongst various stake holders, approved a relief package to revive the economy.

Earlier, the Union Government rolled out a 20 lakh crore package under the umbrella of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’, sharply focusing MSMEs, priority sectors, and vulnerable segments. However, the Jammu and Kashmir Government felt a need to consider similar hand-holding measures for sectors/borrowers not covered under the Central Government package.

In order to clear the backlog of sales tax/VAT arrears under the relief package, the Amnesty scheme has been extended up to 31st, October 2020. Whereas, the date of filing of reimbursement claims (GST returns/claims) for the period from January to March 2020 has been extended to 15th October 2020 and for the period April to June 2020 to 15th November 2020.

In a normal course, the Industrial units claiming GST reimbursement on the supply of goods during the inter-state movement were required to get the relevant electronic waybills stamped and verified by the consignee. However, considering the issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the self-attestation of claimants has been enabled and scanned copies of such documents verified by the consignee and attested by the claimants with a post-dated cheque shall be accepted for reimbursement for a  period of 6 months.

To enable smooth transition out of the pandemic driven economic shock, under the relief package, the surcharge leviable on the fixed charges of all the industrial/commercial establishments in J&K for the period 31st March 2020 to 31st October 2020 shall be borne by the government.

Stamp duty on fresh lending under the GoI’s/ J&K Government’s package shall also be waived off under the relief package so that the cost of lending is reduced.

Moreover, the Administrative Council directed the Finance Department to come up with a proposal for interest subvention for currently operating establishments, in consultation with the Industries & Commerce Department. Industries Department was also directed to implement the policy of preference for local manufacturers in procurement through an appropriate mechanism.