Last updated: December 4th, 2021 12:58 PM

MSME Market Development Assistance (MDA) –International Cooperation Scheme

Market Development Assistance (MDA) is a Sub-Component of the MSME International Cooperation Scheme (IC Scheme). As part of this scheme financial assistance is provided to MSME for participation in International Exhibitions/Trade Fairs and also for organizing International Conferences/Seminars/ Workshops/Summits in India and abroad. The Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has released the guidelines for Sub-Component-1 of IC scheme  i.e. Market Development Assistance (MDA) Vide a Circular dated 19th August 2021. The current article briefs the MDA Scheme guidelines For more details on Revised Guidelines of MSME International Cooperation Scheme, click here

Synopsis of Circular

• The Revised Scheme guidelines dated August 19, 2021, invited the proposal from all eligible organizations under the MDA Sub-Component of the IC Scheme at https://ic.msme.gov.in.
• The application process under the MDA Sub-Component has been fully digitized and all eligible organizations can now submit their proposals under the Scheme online at https://ic.msme.gov.in.

The objective of the Scheme

The primary objective of the Scheme is to capacity build MSMEs for entering the export market by facilitating their participation in international exhibitions, fairs, conferences, seminars, and buyer-seller meets abroad.

Eligible Organisations for MDA Scheme

Events under the Market Development Assistance  scheme will be organized by the following entities:

• Ministry of MSME and organizations under the Ministry
• State/Central Government Organisations/Institutions
• Registered Industry /Enterprise Associations

Eligibility Criteria

The detailed eligibility criteria to apply for the Market Development Assistance (MDA) are listed as follows:

• The applicant organization should be suitably registered under the relevant Act (i.e., companies under the Companies Act, Societies under the Societies Act, etc.)
• The applicant organization should have a primary objective of promotion and development of MSMEs.
• The applicant organization should have regular audited accounts for the past 3 years
• Events, for which financial support under the Scheme is sought, must be from the list of approved exhibitions/ events/ buyer-seller meets finalized by the Ministry of MSME in each financial year

Conditions for Market Development Assistance (MDA)

The Industry Associations are allowed to participate in a particular event continuously for 3 years. After participating in the particular event continuously for 3 years, they will be eligible to participate in the same event after a gap of 2 Years Financial assistance to one applicant organization would normally be restricted to three events in a financial year. The Screening Committee may recommend a relaxation of this condition for reasons to be recorded and allot more than 3 events. The quantum of assistance shall only be supplemental to the contribution of the organizer

Selection of the Units for MDA Scheme

• Selection of the participating units shall be based on the eligibility scorecard and in no case an MSME unit scoring less than 60 percent marks will be eligible for availing the benefits under the scheme.
• While selecting entrepreneurs/participants, the applicant organization should ensure that one MSME unit must not participate in more than 2 events in a financial year under the scheme.
• The applicant organization should also ensure that the selection is done fairly and transparently, taking into consideration factors like the track record, growth potential, export potential, etc

Note:

• For the selection of beneficiaries, adequate representation would be given to SC/ST/Women/NER entrepreneurs in such events.
• While selecting entrepreneurs as well as representative(s) of the participating units, priority should be given to persons who have not participated in such events earlier with a Government grant.

Procedure to Avail benefits Under Market Development Assistance

The applicant organization needs to submit an online application for financial assistance, along with the relevant documents and the budget estimate of the expenditure on the proposed event in the proforma online giving full details of expenditure.

• The admissible financial assistance would be worked out based on this budget estimate and following the criteria/scale  and further at the discretion of the Screening Committee
• The scale of Assistance and Eligible Items of Expenditure

Items of expenditure for which assistance is considered under the scheme are given in the document:

Release Of Grant

Grants under the Scheme will be released on basis of the following two categories:

• Category A: Applicant Organisations having EPC Status and Organisations under the Ministry of MSME
• Category B: Applicant Organisations with non-EPC Status

Category A All organizations having the status of Export Promotion Councils under the Foreign Trade Policy and Government Organisations of Ministry of MSME will be considered as Category A Applicant and eligible for the grant:

• National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC)
• National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NI MSME)
• Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialization (MGIRI)

For Category A applicants, 50 percent of the expected expenditure will be released as advances, and the remaining 50 percent will be released on submission of the Utilization Certificate. Note: Advance grants, if any released, have to be refunded with interest in case of default in meeting the objectives and the conditions with which the funds were released. Repeat defaults in the submission of UCs will make EPCs/Organisations ineligible to receive assistance under this Scheme and will be considered for debarring from participating in the Scheme. Category B

• Applicant Organisations with non-EPC Status will be considered as Category B. The total amount will be reimbursed after the event is over.
• All other applicant organizations/associations involved in the promotion and development of MSMEs will submit claim documents for reimbursement of claims in the IC Scheme Portal.

Document Required

Documents Required for Application Submission

Documents required at the time of submission of application on IC scheme portal are listed as follows:

• Application Form
• Budget estimate
• Copy of Registration Certificate of the applicant organization
• Copy of Memorandum and Articles of Association
• Copies of Audited Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account or Income & Expenditure Account of the applicant organization for the last 03 years \

Documents Required for the Settlement of Claim

Documents required for the settlement of claims for EPCs under Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) of Department of Commerce and organizations under the Ministry of MSME, to be physically submitted to IC Section, M/o MSME and uploaded on the IC Scheme Portal.

• The second and final installment would be contingent upon the submission of the following documents within 60 days from the date of completion of the event/activity
• Outcome report (as prescribed under the IC Scheme portal)
• Utilization Certificate
• Chartered Accountant (CA) certified audit account statements including inter alia sources of funding
• A Certificate declaring that financial assistance has not been sought from another Ministry/Department
• Udyam Registration Certificate

Note: Apart from these documents, the applicant unit needs to maintain with them all documents as detailed below.

Documents Required for Submission of Claims

Documents required to be uploaded at the time of submission of claims on IC Scheme Portal for organizations not having EPC status is listed as follows:

• Claim Form Duly filled and a copy certified by Chartered Accountant
• List of participants along with scorecard
• Mandate Form duly filled up by Applicant Organization and verified by the concerned Bank
• Pre-receipt
• Certification from association declaring that they have not sought financial assistance from another Ministry/Department for the claim submitted under the IC scheme
• Udyam Registration Certificate of all participating MSME units
• Copy of e-ticket complete in all respect with fare information on e-ticket for air travel
• Original Boarding Pass [In case of multiple Boarding Passes, provision of an Original Boarding pass of the destination city (host city of the event under consideration) is a must.
• Original Invoice along with receipt of Payment claiming stall charges, freight charges, advertisement and publicity charges, entry/registration fee, platform charges. Interpretation charges etc.

The prescribed format of the few  documents are attached here for reference:

Application Procedure for Market Development Assistance (MDA

The application procedure for Market Development Assistance (MDA) is explained below:

• The application process under the MDA Sub-Component has been fully digitized and all eligible organizations can now submit their proposals under the Scheme online at the official website of “International Corporation Scheme”

Market Development Assistance (MDA) - IC Scheme Home Page

• From the home page click on the Market Development Assistance option, the link will redirect to the Login page.

Market Development Assistance (MDA) - IC Scheme Login Page

• In the case of a new user, the applicant needs to register on the portal. By clicking on the New User Registration option, the link will redirect to a new page.
• Two options will be available:
  • Registered with NITI AAYOG’s NGO DARPAN
  • For Government Institution/Autonomous  Body/PSU

Market Development Assistance (MDA) - IC Scheme User Registration

• Furnish all mandatory details on the application form, by clicking on the submit option. The user ID will be sent to the registered mail ID.

Market Development Assistance (MDA) - IC Scheme User Registration2

• By providing the valid User Id, Password, and verification code, the applicant logs in to the portal.

Market Development Assistance (MDA) - IC Scheme User Registration3

• Once you log in with a valid credential user will redirect to their Dashboard where the application for MDA can be submitted.

Details of Penalty

In case an applicant organization fails to mobilize the number of MSME units/entrepreneurs proposed at the time of applying penalty will be levied at the time of calculation of financial assistance:

Sl.No	Case	Penalty
1	Case 1: Applicant Organisation can mobilize only 90% of the total number of MSMEs approved for participation in the event.	NIL
2	Case 2: Applicant Organisation can mobilize only 81 - 89% of the total number of MSMEs approved for participation in the event	A penalty of 10% of the amount eligible for advertising & publicity and 10% of the amount eligible for reimbursement of Office Bearer expenses will be levied on the applicant organisation
3	Case 3: Applicant Organisation can mobilize only 71 - 80% of the total number of MSMEs approved for participation in the event.	A penalty of 20% of the amount eligible for advertising & publicity and 20% of the amount eligible for reimbursement of Office Bearer expenses will be levied on the applicant organisation
4	Case 4: Applicant Organisation can mobilize only 60 - 70% of the total number of MSMEs approved for participation in the event	A penalty of 30% of the amount eligible for advertising & publicity and 30% of the amount eligible for reimbursement of Office Bearer expenses will be levied on the applicant organisation
5	Case 5: Applicant Organisation can mobilize less than 60% of the total number of MSMEs approved for participation in the event	Applicant organization will not be eligible for any advertising & publicity expenses and reimbursement of office Bearer expenses