Micro enterprises want govt to constitute a dedicated ministry

Chennai: Micro enterprises, which dominate the MSME space in terms of numbers, have asked the government to constitute a separate ministry for them in order to get better focus and support.

In the Mega MSME Survey conducted by the Consortium of Indian Associations (CIA) and participated by 1,08,500 enterprises, 44 percent were micro-enterprises or those below Rs 1 crore annual turnover. A large majority, 82 percent of the respondents have demanded a separate ministry for micro enterprises for better concentration and support.

During the last five years, 28 percent of the respondents have confirmed that they are growing. The performance of 72 percent of the respondents is either stagnant or decreasing or stopped or wound up. While 24 percent were making profits, the rest of them were not.

Among them, 21 percent felt that the government of India supported MSMEs adequately during the pandemic and 13 percent were happy about the recent budget.

They expect that insistence on payment by buyers in 45 days and a refund of 95 percent of the performance guarantee for items supplied during the Covid pandemic will help them grow.

MSMEs expected relaxation of eligibility norms for ECLGS loans and credit without insisting on CIBIL score.