Government committed to supporting MSME sector: Survey

The government on Friday said it is committed to supporting the micro, small and medium enterprises(MSME) sector, terming it an important segment of the economy that fosters entrepreneurship and generates employment opportunities at lower capital cost.

The Economic Survey 2019-20 tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a detailed analysis of all the measures taken by the government to support the MSME sector to ensure better credit flow, technology up-gradation, ease of doing business and market access.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 2, 2018, announced reforms aimed at expediting growth of the sector including in-principle approval for loans up to Rs 1 crore within 59 minutes through an online portal.

According to the Survey, 1,59,422 such loans have been sanctioned involving Rs 49,330 crore. Of this, Rs 37,106 crore has been disbursed up till October 2019.

Besides, out of the 25 per cent procurement mandated from MSMEs, 3 per cent is reserved for women entrepreneurs. During 2019-20, procurement has been done from 1,471 women-owned MSMEs to the tune of Rs 242.12 crore.