Govt mulling a policy on MSMEs NPAs: Minister

The government is mulling over formulating a policy that will enable recovery from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which have turned into bad loans, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E M S Natchiappan said today.
At the same time, the government is also looking at a CDR-type mechanism for the MSMEs to help recast their loans," he told reporters on the sidelines of IEEMA event here.
"We are in talks with various stakeholders, including banks and associations of manufacturers, etc, to frame a policy for recovery from MSMEs," Natchiappan said.
Expressing concerns over a large number of MSMEs shutting their businesses due to the rising input costs and higher interest rates, the minister said: "We are working on framing guidelines, whereby we could come out with some kind of relief

For them to rejuvenate their businesses."
Admitting that the large corporates in the manufacturing sector easily get approval for corporate debt restructuring, Natchiappan said: "It is difficult in the case of MSMEs."

"We are evaluating all the options and we expect to come out with a plan soon (for the segment)," he said.
The Minister also emphasised the need to focus on developing human resource capital and also increase its investment in creating more skilled manpower in order to compete with the global markets.
"The industry has to spend time and money on their training. This is one of the major reasons for the low productivity of manpower in India as compared to other economies," he said.

On the growing cheap imports from China, which is hurting the electrical industry, Natchiappan said the government will look into the issue to provide more safeguards for the industry.