Market Development Assistance to MSMEs: Assistance to Organizers for Organizing Industrial Exhibitions in Gujarat

What is the Assistance to Organizers component?

Market Development Assistance to MSMEs is a Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020 scheme notified by the Industries and Mines Department through Government Resolution No. SSI/102020/332349/Ch dated 1 September 2020. The resolution states that the scheme came into force on 7 August 2020 and is operative for five years for assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises.

The resolution has two parts. Scheme 1 supports MSME manufacturers who take a stall at an exhibition. Scheme 2, Assistance to Organizers for organizing industrial exhibitions in Gujarat, supports the body that puts the exhibition on.

The support is narrow and easy to state. According to the resolution, assistance is provided at 60% of the bill of electricity consumption during the exhibition period, including electricity consumption during the pre-preparation period. Prior approval of the MSME Commissioner is required to avail the benefit, and only an exhibition organised during the policy period is eligible. Assistance is given in the form of reimbursement on the basis of actual expenditure incurred by the organisers.

The logic behind picking electricity as the supported head is practical. For a multi-day industrial exhibition in a temporary hall, power for lighting, air-conditioning, live machinery demonstrations and the days of rigging before the doors open is one of the largest and least compressible line items an association faces. The state absorbs 60% of it.

The preamble to the resolution explains the wider intent: more than 200 international and nationally recognised trade fairs take place in India in sectors related to industries and machinery manufacturing, and the State Government wanted machinery manufacturing industries in Gujarat to reach both domestic and international markets, with support extended to industries as well as industrial organisations and other stakeholders.

Who is eligible, and who is excluded?

Eligible organisers. The resolution defines an organiser as any industries association, federation of industries associations, or chamber of commerce and industries organising an exhibition in the interest of the manufacturing sector, who organises an industrial exhibition with the prior approval of the MSME Commissioner.

Conditions attached:

• Prior approval of the MSME Commissioner must be obtained before the exhibition.
• The exhibition must be organised during the policy period.
• A project report must be submitted to avail benefit under Scheme 2.
• Assistance is reimbursement of actual expenditure only.

Who cannot apply. Individuals cannot apply, and this component carries no personal benefit of any kind. Private event management companies, commercial exhibition promoters and individual exhibitors are outside the definition of organiser. An MSME that merely takes a stall applies under Scheme 1 of the same resolution instead, not under this component. A body that has already received assistance under this scheme is not entitled to avail benefit of any other State Government scheme for the same component or purpose unless that scheme specifically permits it.

What documents are required?

How to apply for organiser assistance

1. Plan the exhibition and prepare a project report covering dates, venue, expected exhibitors from the manufacturing sector, layout and the estimated power load for both the exhibition days and the pre-preparation period.
2. Apply for prior approval to the MSME Commissioner at Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017, enclosing the project report and the registration certificate of the association, federation or chamber. Do this before the exhibition; approval afterwards is not available.
3. Hold the exhibition during the policy period, keeping the electricity meter readings, bills and payment records for both the event days and the rigging days.
4. File the reimbursement claim with the electricity bills and proof of actual expenditure. Under the resolution, Scheme 2 proposals are approved by the State Level supported Committee and disbursed by the General Manager of the District Industries Centre, so the claim is routed through the DIC. Applications under this resolution are filed on the Investor Facilitation Portal, ifp.gujarat.gov.in.
5. Respond to scrutiny queries from the DIC or the MSME Commissioner's office, and receive the reimbursement in the organising body's bank account.

Who approves the claim?

A State Level supported Committee is constituted under the resolution for sanctioning assistance and for approving exhibitions for eligibility. It is chaired by the Commissioner MSME, with the Managing Director of iNDEXTb, a Joint or Deputy Secretary of the Industries and Mines Department, the Financial Advisor of the Industries and Mines Department, the President of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Additional Industries Commissioner (Extension) as members, and a Joint or Deputy Commissioner of Industries as Member Secretary. The committee also reviews implementation of both schemes in the resolution.

The resolution further records that proposals under Scheme 1 are sanctioned and disbursed by the General Manager of the District Industries Centre, while Scheme 2 is approved by SLEC and disbursed by the General Manager DIC. Detailed procedure and guidelines for sanction and disbursement are issued by the MSME Commissioner.

How the companion participation component works

Organisers are often asked by exhibitors what support they can claim, so it helps to know Scheme 1 of the same resolution. An MSME manufacturing enterprise in production in Gujarat can claim assistance at 75% up to Rs 50,000 for a state-level exhibition, 75% up to Rs 1 lakh for a national-level exhibition, and 75% up to Rs 2 lakh for an international-level exhibition inside India, each covering stall rent plus product literature and display material, with the literature and display element capped at Rs 10,000 for state and national exhibitions and Rs 20,000 for international exhibitions inside India. An enterprise is entitled to a maximum of five participations across those three categories in total. For an international exhibition outside India, assistance is 60% up to Rs 5 lakh with literature and display capped at Rs 50,000, and a maximum of three participations during the operative period. MSME units must apply on the IFP Portal to the DIC within six months from the last date of the exhibition, and international exhibitions must be ones approved by the Ministry of MSME, ITPO, EEPC, FIEO or as approved by SLEC.

Common reasons organiser claims fail

• No prior approval. This is the single defect that cannot be cured after the event.
• Exhibition held outside the policy period.
• Organiser outside the definition. A private event company or an individual promoter.
• Bills that do not separate the exhibition and pre-preparation consumption from the venue's unrelated load.
• No project report on record.
• Same expenditure already claimed under another State Government scheme.

Where to get help

• MSME Commissioner / Industries Commissionerate, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017 — +91 79 23252619, +91 79 23252689, +91 79 23252682.
• Email: icim@gujarat.gov.in, icioim@gujarat.gov.in.
• General Manager, District Industries Centre of the district where the exhibition is held, for claim filing and disbursement.
• Investor Facilitation Portal, ifp.gujarat.gov.in, for the scheme resolutions and the incentive application forms.

This is an institutional scheme for industry bodies. No individual receives money under it.