Assembly okays bill to exempt MSMEs from trade licences

A bill to exempt micro, small and  medium enterprises (MSMEs) and industries from obtaining trade licences from urban local bodies was passed in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Piloting the Karnataka Municipal Corporations and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Bill, 2015, Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake said the government proposed to exempt MSMEs from obtaining trade licences to simplify procedures for entrepreneurs.

However, BJP leaders including Jagadish Shettar, Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri expressed apprehension that doing away with trade licences would result in local bodies losing their say in establishment of enterprises and industries in their jurisdiction.

K R Ramesh Kumar (Cong) said the bill contradicted the provisions of comprehensive amendments proposed to the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, wherein the power of issuing trade licences is vested with local bodies.

Industries Minister R V Deshpande said the doing away with trade licences was also a part of promise made by the government in the Karnataka Industrial Policy - 2014-19. The process of issuing trade licences was redundant, he said.

The bill states that the micro, small and medium enterprises must have registered with District Industries Centre under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 to be eligible for the exemption. Large industries which have filed Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum or Industrial Licence with the Secretariat of Industrial Assistance, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion are exempt from obtaining trade licence, the bill states.

Shrinking of CA sites
The Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that proposes to reduce the area earmarked for parks in the jurisdiction of an urban development authority from the present 15 to 10 per cent and also area reserved for civic amenities from present 10 to five per cent was tabled in the Assembly.

The bill also provides for the inclusion of members of the legislature, a representative of jurisdictional electricity supply company, deputy conservator of forests, Chief Executive Office of the Zilla Panchayats in the urban development authority.