Number of sick MSEs rises to over 90,000: govt

The number of sick micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the country has increased to more than 90,000 during the last financial year, the Parliament was informed today.

"As per the data complied by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from the scheduled commercial banks, the position regarding number of sick MSEs in the country at the end of March 2011 were 90,141," Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister Virbhadra Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

At the end of March 2010, there were 77,723 sick MSEs, he added.

The data furnished by the RBI pertaining to medium enterprises indicates that there were 4,416 sick medium enterprises at the end of March 2011, he said.

To another query, he replied that there are 1.18 lakh enterprises registered by Scheduled Castes and 44,840 units owned by Scheduled Tribes in the country.

There are 26 million MSME units which contribute 8% to the country's gross domestic product, 45% of the manufacturing output and 40% of the total merchandise exports.