Haryana MSME Revival Interest Benefit Scheme

What was the Haryana MSME Revival Interest Benefit Scheme?

Haryana MSME Revival Interest Benefit Scheme was a one-time relief measure notified by the Industries and Commerce Department, Government of Haryana, on 1 May 2020 under notification number 02/04/2020-1IB-II. The stated purpose was to help industrial units in Haryana retain their employees during the financial distress caused by reduced economic activity in the COVID-19 period.

The scheme worked as an interest write-off rather than a cash grant. An MSME that borrowed from a bank in order to pay staff wages did not have to bear the interest on that borrowing, the state paid it on the unit's behalf.

This scheme is closed. The claim window ran only until three months after the end of the lockdown period, or 30 September 2020, whichever was later. This page records what the scheme actually provided, because units still settling old claims, appeals or audit queries need the original terms. Businesses looking for a live interest incentive should instead read about the Interest Subsidy Scheme and the State Credit Linked Interest Subsidy Scheme notified under the Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy 2020.

How much benefit did the scheme provide?

The Industries and Commerce Department notification set the quantum in three layers:

• 100% interest benefit on loans availed for payment of employee wages and/or other expenses.
• The eligible loan was capped at Rs 20,000 per employee.
• The interest benefit was limited to the interest paid by the unit to the bank or financial institution for up to 6 months.
• The rate was calculated at a maximum of 8% per annum, or the actual rate of interest charged by the bank on the term loan or working capital loan, whichever was lower.

A unit with 50 employees, for example, could claim against an eligible loan principal of up to Rs 10 lakh, with the state meeting the interest on that amount for six months at up to 8% a year.

Where the Government of India extended a similar incentive to MSME units, the Haryana scheme provided only the incremental benefit, enough to bring the total interest benefit up to 8% per annum, or the actual bank rate if that was lower. The scheme was not designed to stack on top of a central benefit.

Who could claim, and who could not

A unit could claim if it met all of these conditions:

• The unit was an MSME working in Haryana as on 15 March 2020.
• The unit had been in commercial production for at least 80% of the days between 1 February 2020 and 15 March 2020.
• The unit had filed an EM or UAM. An Entrepreneur Memorandum or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum, with the competent authority after coming into commercial production.
• The unit had a running term loan or working capital loan account with a commercial bank or financial institution; or obtained such a loan within one month of the date on which permission for operations was granted on the portal during the lockdown period, or by 30 June, whichever was later.

A unit was not eligible in these situations:

• The unit was not operating in Haryana as on 15 March 2020.
• The unit fell short of the 80% production-days test for the 1 February to 15 March 2020 window.
• The unit had not filed an EM or UAM after commencing commercial production.
• The unit had no term loan or working capital loan account and did not take one within the permitted window.
• The loan was not used to pay wages or other covered expenses.

Individuals cannot apply under this scheme in any personal capacity. The claim was always filed by the industrial unit through its proprietor, partner or director, or an authorised signatory holding a board resolution or power of attorney.

What documents were required?

The application itself, at Annexure-I of the notification, asked for the unit's name and address, constitution, category (micro, small or medium), EM or UAM number and date, date of commencement of commercial production as per the first sale bill, item of manufacture, and a headcount split into permanent, contractual and casual staff.

How to apply — the claim process, now closed

1. Assemble the Annexure-I application with the unit's details, loan particulars and employee headcount, and attach all eight self-attested documents listed above.
2. Submit the claim to the Director of Industries and Commerce Department on the web portal of the department, within three months of the end of the lockdown period or by 30 September 2020, whichever was later.
3. Respond to deficiencies within two weeks. The concerned Joint Director or Deputy Director of the Industries Department examined every application and communicated deficiencies in writing within 7 working days; the applicant had 2 weeks to rectify them.
4. Await sanction by the Additional Director, Department of Industries and Commerce, Haryana, the competent authority for the scheme.
5. Confirm the adjustment with your bank. The Finance Department transferred funds directly to the concerned bank, which adjusted the amount against the unit's interest liability.

Where deficiencies were not removed in time, the claim was rejected by the competent authority under intimation to the party. A rejected claim could be reopened by order of the Director of Industries and Commerce, provided the request was received within 30 days of the date of rejection.

How was the money actually paid?

The scheme did not put cash in the applicant's account. Budgetary provision came from the Labour Welfare Fund, or another source determined by the Finance Department, based on the list of eligible beneficiaries supplied by the Industries and Commerce Department.

The Industries and Commerce Department raised a consolidated demand of funds, and the Finance Department transferred the money directly to the concerned banks. The notification is explicit that the MSME did not have to defray the interest for the covered period to its bank, and the bank adjusted that amount from the funds transferred by the Finance Department.

Appeals, penalties and oversight

Appeals. An appeal against an order of the competent authority lay with the Director, Industries and Commerce, Haryana. The notification states that no further appeal could be made against the order of the appellate authority.

Interpretation. The Administrative Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Haryana was competent to interpret the provisions of the scheme, and that decision was final.

Penal action. Where it was found at any stage that assistance had been claimed on the basis of wrong facts, the applicant had to refund the amount to the Government with compound interest at 12% per annum, faced legal action, and was debarred from any further incentive or assistance from the State Government.

Oversight. The Industries and Commerce Department separately notified the constitution of an Oversight Committee for the Haryana MSME Revival Interest Benefit Scheme, which is listed alongside the scheme notification on the department's schemes and policies page.

Where to get help on an old claim

• Directorate of MSME, Haryana, Plot No. C-3, HSVP Complex, Sector 6, Panchkula 134109 to 0172-2580710.
• Additional Director, Directorate of MSME, 0172-2580706.
• Directorate of Industries and Commerce, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17, Chandigarh; 0172-2701344.
• Department of Industries and Commerce, Haryana, 3rd Floor, Mini Secretariat, Sector 17, Chandigarh: 0172-2714010.
• Email the Directorate of MSME at info-msme@hry.gov.in.

Units looking for a currently open interest incentive should read the Interest Subsidy Scheme notified on 29 July 2021 and the State Credit Linked Interest Subsidy Scheme for Technology Up-gradation notified on 4 October 2021. Both were issued under the Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy 2020, which the Industries and Commerce Department extended on 9 January 2026 until a new industrial policy is notified.

How to check your application status

The scheme's claim window is closed, but units that filed a claim before 30 September 2020 (or the applicable deadline) and are still tracking an old file, an appeal, or a refund demand have a few real ways to follow up:

• Ask the Directorate of Industries and Commerce Department directly. There was no separate online tracking portal for this scheme; the claim was examined internally by the concerned Joint Director or Deputy Director and then sanctioned by the Additional Director, so status updates come from that office rather than a self-service dashboard.
• Call the Directorate of MSME, Haryana at 0172-2580710, or the Additional Director, Directorate of MSME at 0172-2580706, and quote the unit's EM/UAM number, the date the Annexure-I claim was submitted, and the notification number 02/04/2020-1IB-II.
• Call the Directorate of Industries and Commerce at 0172-2701344, or the Department of Industries and Commerce, Haryana at 0172-2714010, if the query concerns sanction, fund transfer to the bank, or an appeal pending before the Director.
• Write to info-msme@hry.gov.in with the unit's name, EM/UAM number, and claim date if a phone follow-up does not resolve the query, since a written trail is useful for an old file.
• Check with your bank on whether the interest adjustment was actually credited. Because the Finance Department paid banks directly rather than crediting the applicant, a bank statement showing the interest waiver is often the fastest confirmation that a claim was sanctioned and paid, without needing to contact the department at all.
• If a claim was rejected for deficiencies, remember the 30-day window: a request to reopen a rejected claim had to reach the Director of Industries and Commerce within 30 days of the rejection date. Outside that window, the department has no route left to revive the claim, so any status enquiry after that point is really about whether the file was closed, not whether it can still be processed.

Common reasons for rejection

Because this scheme is closed, these reasons matter mainly to units revisiting an old rejected claim or an audit query, not to fresh applicants. Based on the scheme's actual eligibility and documentation conditions, claims were turned down for reasons that fall into a few clear categories:

• Unit not operational in Haryana as on 15 March 2020. The scheme's cut-off date was fixed; a unit that started, relocated, or shifted its registered address after that date did not meet the basic eligibility condition, and no amount of documentation could fix this after the fact.
• Production-days test not met. A unit had to show commercial production on at least 80% of the days between 1 February 2020 and 15 March 2020. Units that were newly commissioned, under trial production, or had extended shutdowns in that window commonly fell short of this threshold and were rejected on that ground alone.
• No EM or UAM on record. The Entrepreneur Memorandum or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum had to be filed after the unit actually came into commercial production. A unit that filed its EM/UAM before production started, or never filed one, could not establish MSME status for this scheme.
• No qualifying loan account. A unit needed a running term loan or working capital loan account with a bank or financial institution, or had to obtain one within the permitted window (one month of receiving lockdown-period operating permission, or by 30 June, whichever was later). Units that funded wages from internal cash flow or informal borrowing instead of a bank loan had nothing for the interest benefit to attach to.
• Loan not linked to wages or covered expenses. Even where a loan existed, the CA certificate (Annexure-III) had to certify that the borrowed funds were actually used to pay employee wages or other covered expenses. A loan taken for unrelated purposes, such as raw material purchase or capital expenditure, did not qualify even if the unit otherwise met every other condition.
• Missing or inconsistent documentation. The claim required eight separate documents, including a bank loan sanction letter, a Haryana Labour Department certificate on headcount, a CA certificate on wages paid, an interest-paid certificate from the bank, and a notarised undertaking. A mismatch between the headcount shown to the Labour Department and the headcount claimed in Annexure-I, or a missing notarised undertaking, was flagged as a deficiency; if it was not corrected within the 2-week window given after the department's deficiency notice, the claim was rejected.
• Claim filed after the deadline. Claims had to reach the department within three months of the end of the lockdown period, or by 30 September 2020, whichever was later. A late submission was rejected regardless of how strong the underlying eligibility was.
• Wrong facts detected after sanction. This is technically a clawback rather than a rejection, but it worked the same way in practice: if the department later found a claim was based on incorrect facts, the earlier sanction was reversed, the unit had to refund the amount with 12% compound interest, and it was debarred from further state incentives.

For each of these, the fix (where the window is still legally open) is the same: go back to the Directorate of Industries and Commerce Department or the Directorate of MSME with the specific document or fact that was found deficient, rather than resubmitting the whole claim from scratch.