Govt to come out with comprehensive MSME policy: Mishra

Government will come out with a comprehensive policy for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, to be drafted by a panel headed by former Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar, Union MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra has said.
Mishra said the committee will submit its report as early as possible, but certainly not later than June.
At the moment, there is no integrated approach for the development of MSMEs despite the fact that the sector accounts for 40 per cent of India's manufacturing and 45 per cent of exports.
"The idea is to integrate various policies pertaining to the sector and come out with one comprehensive policy," Mishra said at the launch of the web portal SMEpost.Com yesterday.

SMEpost.Com will celebrate the work done by 4 to 5 crore MSMEs in the country, one of the key drivers of India's economic development and inclusive growth in view of its huge job creation potential especially in rural areas.
Once the MSME draft policy is readied by Kumar, it will be open for public debate before finalization, Mishra said.

He added that the decision to have a comprehensive policy was taken after MSME Board meeting in which 83 small scale industry associations participated from all over the country.
All of them suggested that there was a crying need for such a policy as at the moment there is no single policy for MSMEs.

The Prabhat Kumar committee will also take into consideration all the suggestions, which have already been made by the small scale industry associations.
The associations have emphasized the need for integration of the MSMEs requirement of raw material, capital, manufacturing and marketing. These will be critical inputs in the MSME policy formulation, Mishra said.