Kolkata: State Finance minister Amit Mitra called the Centre's announcement of sanctioning of loans up to Rs 1 crore for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in 59 minutes another 'big scam'.
While speaking to the media outside the Assembly, Mitra said that this could be another big scam by the Centre after demonetisation and GST. He also demanded that the details of company that has been assigned to carry out the project be made public.
Meanwhile, it may be mentioned that acting Finance minister Piyush Goyal in his Budget speech on Friday, announced that a new scheme would be introduced through which entrepreneurs can apply for a new start-up in the MSME sector by providing some data and the loans up to Rs 1 crore may be sanctioned in 59 minutes.
"This is one of the biggest scams after demonetisation and GST. What you need to find out is where the company has come from. What we have come to know is that 'Capita World', a company floated by two Gujarat-based youths, has been assigned to carry out the project. This company was formed in 2015 and a website had been created. It had a subsequent loss of Rs 38,000 in the next year," Mitra said.
He further added: "This company will take all your data - GST identification number, Income Tax return, bank statements for last six months, director owner's details and personal education ownership details, within 59 minutes. This entity from Gujarat has been selected to collect all your data. They will use the data in future. It's a massive scam."
Referring to GST, Mitra once again reiterated that the Centre has made a mess out of GST and the unpreparedness of the Narendra Modi government to handle GST has already caused harm to businessmen across the country.
There is no proper matching of invoice and as a result, one can put up anything on the internet. The Centre has failed to introduce a GST that is transparent and devoid of faults.
"Through demonetisation, all the money came to the banks. Some people converted their black money into white, while some others did it through Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. Why didn't the Centre publish a white paper in this regard? We have categorically mentioned that a hawala has been happening in the name of demonetisation," Mitra added.
Taking a dig at the Centre, Mitra said that non-performing assets (NPA) had remained at Rs 2 lakh crore in 2014 and now the figure has jumped over Rs 10 lakh crore. "Is it a reform when the NPA increases five times? Every major institution is under threat today," he added.