Govt to ask MSMEs under GSTN to obtain Udyog Aadhaar

The government will urge about one crore MSMEs registered under the GST Network to obtain Udyog Aadhaar number to avail benefits of various government schemes, a top official said.

The finance ministry is likely to send an email to the micro, small and medium enterprises soon, detailing the services that can be obtained using Udyog Aadhaar.

The move is aimed convergence of the data-base of GSTN with Udyog Aadhaar and at procuring the MSMEs' contact details and information about their business verticals, so that government policies can be tailored to match their needs.

The ministry cannot obtain the details of the enterprises without their consent, owing to data privacy provisions under the GST Act, MSME Secretary A K Panda told PTI.

Over 48 lakh MSMEs are presently registered under Udyog Aadhaar, which enables these units to seek information and apply online about various services being offered by all ministries and departments.

"I wanted if we can get details, at least their contact point, the vertical in which they are working, but I was told that the GST Act has issues of privacy, that this data cannot be shared without the consent of the enterprise," Panda said.

However, he said the e-mail will not make it mandatory for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to register with Udyog Aadhaar but only suggest the enterprises to opt for it, entailing the benefits of registration.

"We are planning now, that we will request them (Finance Ministry) to send an mail to everybody who are registered in GSTN but yet not registered in Udyog Aadhaar to get registered under the Udyog Aadhaar and avail benefits.

"Already we have discussed with them (Finance Ministry) but now we are in the process of preparing that mail so that we will give them that mail and they (FinMin) will send it across," Panda said.