Economic package for MSMEs to energise local industry: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesdaywelcomed the relief package for the MSME sector, saying itwill re-energize the indigenous industry.

In avideo message from Nagpur, the minister forMSMEs and Road Transport & Highways saidthe turnover of the village industry has been around Rs 88,000 crore, which the government aspires to take forward to Rs 5 lakh crore in the next two years.

He said, the stimulus package will help achieve this target in a big way. The Khadi sector will play a big role in this as it is entering into exports also.

The minister was upbeat over the change of definition of the MSME sector.

Raising of investment limit in this sector to Rs 100 crore will give great boost to the industry, which will now get easy finance from banks. The sector was demanding this revision for long, he said.

The Fund of Funds, which has a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore, will benefit over 25 lakh MSMEs under stress. Similarly, easing of global tendering norm is a remarkable step, he said.

Gadkari expressed hope that now new orders will be received from Defence and Police for uniforms, etc.

He said, economic support to this sector which gives employment to over 11 crore people and contributes nearly 29 per cent to the GDP, can never be forgotten by the stake holders of this sector.

He expressed confidence that the MSME, village and cottage industry sector will grow to new heights with the support of this package.