By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha said that the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) implements various schemes and programmes for promotion and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) throughout the country.
These include the schemes/programmes such as Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), A Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE), Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESDP), Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises, Credit Linked Capital Subsidy – Technology Up-gradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS), Micro & Small Enterprises – Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub (NSSH), etc, he said.
Under Atmanirbhar Bharat, Government recently announced a special economic and comprehensive package of Rs. 20 Lakh crore for all the sections of the society including Industries and MSMEs. Government has taken a number of initiatives to support the MSME sector in the country which include the following;
Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for MSMEs.Rs 3 lakh crores Collateral free Automatic Loans for business, including MSMEs.Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds.
New revised criteria for classification of MSMEs.New Process of MSME Registration through ‘Udyam Registration’.No global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crores, which will help MSMEs.The Prime Minister has launched an online Portal “Champions” on 01.06.2020. The portal covers many aspects of e-governance including grievance redressal and handholding of MSMEs. Through the portal, 19,593 grievances have been redressed upto 17.09.2020, he said.
The Government has notified Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) Order, 2012 under MSMED Act. Under this policy, 25% of annual procurement by Central Ministries /Departments/Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) has to be made from Micro & Small enterprises. This includes 4% from MSEs owned by SC/STs and 3% from MSEs owned by Women entrepreneurs. 358 items are reserved for exclusive procurement from MSEs.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 contains specific provisions to deal with cases of delayed payments of the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). Under the provisions of the Act, Micro & Small Enterprises Facilitation Councils (MSEFC) have been set up in the States/UTs. These Councils can be approached by the MSEs for resolution of delayed payment cases by way of conciliation and/or arbitration.
Ministry of MSME has launched SAMADHAAN portal to enable Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs) to directly register their cases on the portal relating to delayed payments by Central Ministries / Departments/ CPSEs/ State Government & other buyers.
Ministry of MSME implements a scheme namely “Building Awareness on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)”, to encourage registration of IPR by MSMEs. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to MSMEs on grant of IPR. During the FY 2019-20, Rs. 9.41 crore was released under the scheme, the Minister said.
As a measure to help the MSMEs grow, the Government, vide notification no.S.O. 2119 (E) dated 26.06.2020, has notified composite criteria of classification of MSMEs based on investment in plant and machinery or equipment and turnover of the enterprise. The new criteria is effective from 1.7.2020. However, to provide hassle free transition from old system of Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum to Udyam Registration, 31.03.2021 has been fixed as deadline. The New criteria provides that the turnover with respect to exports will not be counted in the limits of turnover for any category of MSME units whether micro, small or medium. There is no difference between manufacturing and service sector enterprises. The actual figures for Turnover with different investment limits depend upon a variety of socio-economic factors such as demand from consumers, Inflation, availability of labour and raw materials, price fluctuations, etc., in different cases.
There is no uniform investment / turnover ratio. The new composite criteria is expected to bring about many benefits. This will also help in attracting investments and creating more jobs in the MSME sector. Moreover, the Udyam registration portal developed by this Ministry has facilitated MSMEs by providing the MSMEs to link themselves with (i) GeM portal for ensuring their participation in Government procurements, (ii) linkages with TReDS platform for helping the MSEs in realizing their delayed payments (iii) In case of change in status as a result of re classification due to changes in investment or turnover, the benefit associated with the status would be effective from 1st April of the financial year following the year in which such change took place, he added.
