Dear Sir/Madam,

The National Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Hub (NSSH) is an initiative by Government of India targeted towards developing a supportive ecosystem for SC-ST entrepreneurs. The key objective of NSSH is to support SC-ST enterprises in increasing their participation in public procurement process and achieve the mandate of the public procurement policy. The mandate states that Central Government Ministries, Departments and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) shall procure minimum 4% of total procurement of goods and services shall be made from MSEs owned by SC & ST entrepreneurs.

NSSH is implementing new interventions with an aim to further extend benefits and support to SC-ST entrepreneurs by offering subsidy and reimbursements. The Hub has started accepting applications for the below schemes and initiatives -

• Reimbursement of 50% or Rs. 1,00,000/- (excluding GST), whichever is less, on Bank loan processing fee charged by SC-ST MSEs in availing business loans.
• Reimbursement of 50% or Rs. 1,00, 000/- (excluding GST), whichever is less, on Performance Bank Guarantee charges paid by SC-ST MSEs for participation in tenders of Central/ State Govt. and CPSEs.
• Reimbursement of 50% with a ceiling limit of Rs 1,00,000/- (excluding GST) charged as Testing fee, for availing testing services from NABL accredited laboratories & license or certification fee from BIS.
• Reimbursement of 50% with a limit of Rs 20,000/- (excluding GST), on Membership fee for availing membership of various Export Promotion Councils (EPCs).
• 100% subsidy on membership fee of B2B portal (www.msmemart.com), an online platform of National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), will be provided to all SC-ST entrepreneurs.
• Reimbursement of course fees for SC-ST entrepreneurs and their ward for attending short term (1-30 days duration) courses from top 50 management institutes as per NIRF ranking from MoHRD. Reimbursement will be up to 90% of course fee or Rs. 1 Lakh (whichever is lower) for attending up to 2 courses in one financial year per SC-ST owned MSE.

For more information on any of these initiatives, NSSH has a dedicated website - www.scsthub.in, which provides all relevant information. There is also a toll-free number - 1800 11 1955 and email id - nsshsupport@nsic.co.in on which representatives of the hub can be reached out for further handholding support and redressal of queries. In addition, you can also visit your nearest NSSH Office - http://scsthub.in/OurOffices.php

We sincerely hope that you would find this information useful.