NBMSME to meet tomorrow over sectoral reforms

The National Board for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NBMSME) will meet here tomorrow to take stock of recent developments in the sector, and chalk out the implementation of roadmap for reforms, including a comprehensive policy for MSMEs.

The report of the one-man committee on MSME Policy prepared by former Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar has recommended setting up of a financial institution in consultation with the Department of Financial Services which is responsible for the entire micro enterprises in the country to cater to its financial needs. It also suggested that an MSME Innovation Fund may be created with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore to motivate enterprises to innovate.

The NBMSME, chaired by Union Minister Giriraj Singh, will also review the progress of schemes like the Prime Ministers Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), functioning of the National Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes Hub and the performance of public procurement policy, government officials told PTI.

The procurement policy applicable to all Central Ministries/Departments/CPSUs stipulates mandatory overall procurement of minimum of 20 per cent from micro and small enterprises of total annual procurement, 4 per cent out of which is earmarked for procurement from MSEs owned by SC/STs.

The NBMSME will also examine the issues relating to the delayed payments to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and review the functioning of the SAMADHAAN Delayed Payments portal launched in October.

The panel has also recommended that all similar schemes for marketing assistance be merged and one consolidated scheme with uniform criteria and scale of financial assistance should be introduced for the MSME sector. It argued that uniformity in financial assistance for space rental, airfare etc by various organisations will make the scheme clearer and commonly acceptable by its end-users.

It also suggested creation of a Rs 1,000 crore Growth Fund for Exports under the MSME ministry to be operated by SIDBI to provide holistic support to SMEs and enhance their international competitiveness.

The NBMSME will also take into account recent developments, including the Union Cabinet earlier this month approving the change in definition of MSME and tweaking the criteria for classifying MSMEs from 'Investment in Plant & Machinery' to annual turnover.