Hyderabad: After several rounds of deliberations, the Telangana Industrial Health Clinic (TIHC), touted to be the first of its kind initiative in the country , is finally set to be launched now. Its primary objective: to assist with the rehabilitation of `sick’ micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the state, both financially and logistically .

Of the total 33,000 (approx) MSME units in Telangana, 7,842 units, authorities say , are currently ailing owing to various reasons. Rough industry estimates suggest about 70 to 80% of these are located in and around the city . Incidentally , data also indicates that this sector generates the largest chunk of jobs.

“Many of these MSMEs have bank loans. And while banks, on paper are expected to assist them in times of difficulty , they do not do so very sincerely because these are all small borro wers. Banks are more sensitive to the issues of large companiesborrowers,” said Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana IT secretary.

“Under such circumstances, the TIHC gains prominence as it is entirely dedicated to requirements of MSMEs.” A government order announcing its official launch will be issued in a few days, he said.

Here’s how it will work. The clinic comprising professionals from various areas of expertise will be headed by a chief executive officer. It will be supported with a rich corpus, a part of which (10 crore precisely) will be paid by the Telangana government. Another `50 crore will come from the Centre. Apart from providing monetary support, the team of experts will also conduct independent studies to understand the reasons plaguing these industries, and offer suitable solutions.

“While as per norms, banks are expected to carry out a Techno Economic Viability study in case a unit is found struggling, before they decide on their future course of lending, it’s either never done or conducted at a stage when the unit has already become a non-performing asset. This kills their chances of revival. The health clinic will plug this gap,” said Yerram Raju, advisor for the TIHC, sharing how 6,000 products are produced by the MSME sector.

Source: Times of India