Start-ups can participate in the International Events on the expense of government

Startups can participate in the International Events on the expense of government.

The scheme has been launched to provide an opportunity for Indian MSME business delegations to participate in international exhibitions, to explore new areas of technology/infusion/up gradation, and hold international conference and seminars on topics of interest to the MSMEs. 

• Eligible Organizations:

1. Ministry of MSMEs
2. State/Central Government Organizations
3. Industry/Enterprise Associations
4. Registered Organizations under the MSMEs

• Eligibility of the Organization:

1. The applicant organization should be a suitably registered entity (for example, companies under the Companies Act, societies under the Societies Act, etc.)
2. It must be engaged in such activities for at least three years.
3. It should have a good track record.
4. It should have audited account for at least past three years.
5. Events or seminars for which the financial help has been sought must have significant international participation.

Financial Assistance:

In order to secure the financial assistance, the organization needs to submit an application as prescribed by the ministry along with the relevant documents. For getting the grant, the budget should be admissible under the terms and conditions prescribed by the ministry.

There is a list of admissible items of expenditure included for issuing the grant. The eligible items of expenditure and scales of assistance are listed below:

1. Deputation of MSME Business Delegations to Foreign Countries: The financial assistance would be provided to eligible organizations for deputations of MSME delegations to foreign countries in international seminars and exhibitions. The eligible items would be under as:

Table 1

SN	Eligible Items	Scale of Assistance
1	Air Fare	I.            100% of the economy class airfare (maximum 1.5 Lacs) will be paid for the micro, small, medium and entrepreneurs. It means for one entrepreneurs from every participating enterprise will be given the assistance. II.            The same will apply to office bearer(s) of the applicant organization.
2	Duty Allowance	Office bearer will get $150 as daily allowance during his stay in abroad but no other expenses will be provided separately for example such as hotel accommodation, fooding, local transportation, etc.

 

Note 1:

1. A delegation would normally comprise of minimum 5 entrepreneurs and 1 office bearer.
2. Only 1 office beraer will be allowed for the applicant organizations. It is a subject to prior approval by the ministry if the number goes up.
3. The applicant organization should bear the expenditure of office bearer and can claim the same amount in reimbursement bills.

 2. Participation in International Exhibitions/Trade/Fairs/Buyer-Seller Meets: Financial assistance would be provided to the eligible applicant organizations for participation in the international trade, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets where Indian companies can show the latest Indian technologies or expose the Indian MSMEs to new technologies. The eligible items and scope of assistance is prescribed in the following table:

Table 2

SN	Eligible Items	Scale of Assistance
1	Space Rent	100% of the space rent subject to a maximum of 1 Lac or actual rent paid whichever is cheaper.
2	Air Fare	Same as discussed in the first table
3	Duty Allowance	Same as discussed in the first table

 Note 2:

Same as discussed in the first Note 1.

3. Participation in International Exhibitions/Trade Fairs Held in India: In the events where more than one organization of the ministry/agency sponsored under the scheme is participating in that case one of the organizations under the ministry will possibly act as lead organization. Under this scheme, an assistance may be provided for participation of Indian MSMEs in events like India International Trade Fair (IITF) or similar events. Items of eligible expenditure under this has been listed below:

Table 3

SN	Eligible Items	Scale of Assistance
1	Space Rent	100% of the space rent subject to a maximum of 1 lakh will be provided to MSM entrepreneurs.

Note 3:

The maximum amount will be 5 lacs under this section of the scheme per event per participating organization.

4. Organization of International Conferences/Seminars in India: Under this section of the scheme, assistance may be provided in the international conferences and seminars held in India where more than 50% or equal of total participants   are foreigners. Items of expenditure which comes under the preview is listed in Table 4:

Table 4

SN	Eligible Items	Scale of Assistance
1	Foreign Resource Persons – Air Travel	100% of airfare subject to a maximum of 1.50 Lacs for foreign resource persons will be provided. However, the number of foreign resource persons supported in this section is 3.

 

 Quantum of Assistance:

1. For International Events: Maximum 25 Lacs
2. For National Events: Maximum 12 Lacs

Eligibility:

It has the same eligibility criteria as discussed in the previous article named PM Employment Generation Program (PMEGP).

For online application visit at: https://msme.gov.in/IC/PublicForm/Login.aspx

For more information on procedure: https://msme.gov.in/Web/Portal/ICAP.aspx