Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for Assistance to MSMEs: Assistance in Implementation of Information and Communication Technology

What is the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat ICT assistance for MSMEs?

Assistance in Implementation of Information and Communication Technology is Scheme 7 inside the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for Assistance to MSMEs, notified by the Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat, through Government Resolution No. MIS-102022-1271(1)-I(Ch) dated 5 October 2022. The Office of the MSME Commissioner at Udyog Bhavan, Gandhinagar administers it, and District Industries Centres sanction and disburse individual claims.

The scheme addresses a specific, unglamorous gap. A small factory that moves its production data, inventory and accounts to the cloud still has to buy the physical layer that makes cloud access work, servers, switches, routers, backup devices and computers, and that hardware is a capital cost a micro enterprise struggles to justify. Gujarat pays for most of it.

The scheme's operative period runs from 5 October 2022 to 4 October 2027.

How much is the ICT assistance?

Clause 10 of the Government Resolution states the quantum plainly: the equipment required for use of ICT as a medium of communication, and networking with hardware for accessing cloud computing, is eligible for 65% of the capital expenditure related to ICT facilities, maximum up to Rs 5,00,000 during the operative period of the scheme.

Enterprises that opted into this scheme under clause 7.2 of the resolution may also claim expenditure incurred during the operative period of the previous scheme, up to 5 October 2022.

What the previous scheme paid

Under Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020, the same head ran through GR No. SSI-102020-332278-CH dated 1 September 2020 for general enterprises, and GR No. SSI-102020-332376-CH of the same date for SC and ST entrepreneurs under Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Udyog Uday Yojana. Its operative period was 7 August 2020 to 6 August 2025, and its rates were:

• 65% of capital expenditure on ICT facilities, up to Rs 5,00,000 for a general enterprise, and
• 75% of capital expenditure on ICT facilities, up to Rs 5,00,000 for an SC or ST enterprise.

An enterprise could file up to three applications, with total assistance across them capped at Rs 5 lakh.

Who is eligible for ICT assistance?

Eligible:

• A micro, small or medium manufacturing enterprise acknowledged under the MSMED Act, 2006, holding a valid Udyam registration (Udyog Aadhaar under the earlier scheme).
• The enterprise must have installed or subscribed to cloud computing: public cloud, private cloud or hybrid cloud.
• The claimed equipment must be networking and hardware used to access or work with that cloud setup: switches, routers, backup devices, servers, computers and similar equipment used for ICT as a medium of communication.
• Equipment must be bought from an OEM, authorised distributor or dealer holding GST registration.
• Expenditure must have been incurred within one year before the date of installation of the cloud computing system.

Who cannot apply:

• Service enterprises and trading businesses. Both activities are expressly ineligible under this head.
• Enterprises without Udyam registration or without manufacturing recorded as their activity.
• Enterprises claiming software cost. The capital cost eligible here excludes the software part of the ICT system; software belongs to the separate ERP head.
• Enterprises buying from suppliers who are not OEMs or authorised dealers with GST registration.
• Enterprises that have no cloud computing installation or subscription at all, the hardware claim hangs on the cloud setup existing.
• Enterprises that would end up recovering more than actual expenditure after counting a Government of India subsidy for the same equipment.

What documents are required for an ICT claim?

How to apply for ICT assistance in Gujarat

1. Set up the cloud first, then buy the hardware. Eligibility depends on the enterprise having installed or subscribed to public, private or hybrid cloud computing, and only the equipment needed to access and network with it counts. Keep the expenditure inside the one-year window before installation.
2. Buy only from GST-registered OEMs or their authorised distributors and dealers, and keep the tax invoices. The last bill date becomes your installation date for the purpose of the deadline.
3. Download the application form and checklist for Assistance in implementation of Information and Communication Technology from the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Schemes for MSMEs 2022 page at msmec.gujarat.gov.in/posts?id=76.
4. Obtain a CA-certified expenditure statement listing the ICT equipment with invoice dates and values, and excluding software.
5. File the application online on the Investor Facilitation Portal at ifp.gujarat.gov.in and submit the signed hard copy with annexures to the District Industries Centre of your district within one year of the date of installation of the ICT system. Where the online module for a particular head is not live, the department accepts the offline hard copy at the DIC.
6. Support inspection and verification by the DIC, which checks the equipment physically against the invoices and the CA statement before the sanction is issued and the amount disbursed.

How do I check the status of an ICT claim?

The Investor Facilitation Portal at ifp.gujarat.gov.in shows the stage of an online application against the login used to file it. For the physical file, the District Industries Centre that received the hard copy is the office to ask, since the DIC both sanctions and disburses this assistance. Quote the online application number and the Udyam registration number.

Why do ICT claims get rejected?

• Filing more than a year after installation. The last bill in the CA statement fixes the installation date, and applications after that one-year window are out.
• No cloud computing. A hardware bill with no public, private or hybrid cloud installation or subscription behind it does not qualify.
• Software billed as hardware. The capital cost expressly excludes the software part of the ICT system, so licence and software line items are struck out.
• Invoices from suppliers who are not OEMs or authorised dealers, or who are not GST-registered.
• Expenditure incurred outside the one-year window before installation.
• Service or trading activity recorded in Udyam registration.
• Ceiling already exhausted. Rs 5,00,000 is the total across all applications in the operative period, not per application.
• Combined central and state assistance exceeding actual spend, which forces the state amount to be reduced.

Key dates for this scheme

• 1 September 2020 — Industrial Policy 2020 resolutions notified; that scheme ran from 7 August 2020 to 6 August 2025.
• 5 October 2022, Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for Assistance to MSMEs takes effect.
• 4 October 2027. The operative period of the current scheme ends.
• One year from installation. The deadline for every ICT application.

Who do I contact about ICT assistance?

The MSME Commissionerate publishes the Deputy Commissioner of Industries (MSME Incentive), 4th Floor, Block No. 1, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382 010 as the nodal officer for MSME incentive schemes, on 079-23258381, 079-23258386 and 079-23258387, with email msmeinc@gujarat.gov.in and dci-msme-inc@gujarat.gov.in. Your District Industries Centre is the working office for this particular head, because it is the DIC that sanctions and disburses.

Grievances can be filed through the grievance form on msmec.gujarat.gov.in. The department's standing note applies here too: the guidelines exist to help enterprises implement the Government Resolution, and where the two conflict, the Government Resolution and the government's decision are final.