Srinagar, Jul 17 (IANS): To tackle the slowdown due to COVID-19, the Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Council (AC) which met under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor G.C. Murmu on Friday approved a relief package to revive the Union territory's economy.

"Earlier, the Union government rolled out a Rs 20 lakh crore package under the umbrella of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan', sharply focusing on MSMEs, priority sectors and vulnerable segments. However, the Jammu & Kashmir government felt a need to consider similar handholding measures for sectors/borrowers not covered under the Central Government package", an official statement said.

"In order to clear the backlog of sales tax/VAT arrears under the relief package, the amnesty scheme has been extended upto 31st, October, 2020. Whereas, the date of filing of re-imbursement claims (GST returns/claims) for the period from January to March, 2020 has been extended to 15th October, 2020 and for the period April to June, 2020 to 15th November, 2020.

"In a normal course, the industrial units claiming GST re-imbursement on supply of goods during inter-state movement were required to get the relevant electronic way bills stamped and verified by the consignee."

"However, considering the issues due to COVID-19 pandemic, self attestation of claimants has been enabled and scanned copies of such documents verified by the consignee and attested by the claimants with a post dated cheque shall be accepted for re-imbursement for a period of 6 months.

To enable smooth transition out of the pandemic driven economic shock, under the relief package, the surcharge leviable on the fixed charges of all the industrial/commercial establishments in J&K for the period 31st March, 2020 to 31st October, 2020 shall be borne by the government, it said.

Stamp duty on fresh lending under the GoI's/J&K government's package shall also be waived off under the relief package so that the cost of lending is reduced.

Moreover, the Administrative Council directed Finance Department to come up with a proposal for interest subvention for currently operating establishments, in consultation with Industries & Commerce Department. Industries Department was also directed to implement the policy of preference for local manufacturers in procurement through an appropriate mechanism.