Nearly 73% SMBs unable to report profit due to lockdown: study

Nearly 73 per cent of small and micro business entities operating in the country were unable to report profits during the last financial year following the impact caused by the COVID-19 enforced lockdown, a report prepared by Consortium of Indian Associations (CIA) along with 40 other associations said on Thursday.

As many as 63 million micro, small enterprises and 40 million self-employed individuals were present in the country, the report said.

The respondents included 81,000 self-employed and micro, small businesses across the country comprising 49 per cent manufacturing segment, 15 per cent service providers, 14 per cent self-employed, consultants, start-ups, traders, food and hospitality sectors, CIA said.

Nearly 59 per cent of companies removed their manpower during both first and second wave of the pandemic while 88 per cent of the respondents were yet to avail the stimulus packages, the report said.

"Over the past year, CIA has provided vital suggestions required on several initiatives taken by the central and state governments for the benefits of MSMEs", CIA convener K E Raghunathan said.

"We realised that a data-backed survey would help consolidate the feedback from this sector, to provide solutions and a way forward to revive the sector", he added.

According to the report, nearly 64 per cent of the SMBs were unable to avail loans due to last year's financial performance while 36 per cent of the firms were finding it difficult to sustain the business.

Twenty nine per cent of the companies have said they were not able to comply with statutory returns on time because of the delay on payments due to the pandemic, the report said.