New Delhi, Mar 25 (IANS): The All India Manufacturers' Organisation (AIMO) on Wednesday urged the government to support the MSME sector with incentives in view of the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

In a statement, the trade body said: "AIMO made a plea to the government that if the right support packages, incentives and measures were not provided to the MSMEs the lockdown could well turn into a 'ShutDown India'."

Shrikant Dalmia, AIMO's Zonal Vice President, West said that the organisation acknowledges the steps taking by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding the easing of compliance norms, but noted that several sectors including automobile, aviation, hospitality, apparel, consumer durables, tourism, and construction are among the worst hit by the epidemic and all the MSMEs are either directly or indirectly dependent on these sectors.

Sushil Vyas, Secretary of the trade body, said that it has requested the Finance Minister to waive bank interest for MSMEs and instruct banks not to make entrepreneurs' NPAs for lack of interest payment till December 31, 2020.