PSUs bought a paltry 0.47% from SC/ST owned MSEs in FY18 despite PM appeal

The procurement from 2,186 SC/ST owned MSEs stood at Rs 5.4 billion, out of total procurement of Rs 261.02 billion from micro and small enterprises by CPSEs

Procurement by PSUs from micro and small enterprises owned by entrepreneurs belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities remained at a dismal 0.47 per cent in 2017-18, government data showed.

During 2017-18, procurement from 2,186 SC/ST owned MSEs stood at Rs 5.4 billion, out of total procurement of Rs 261.02 billion from micro and small enterprises by CPSEs, according to MSME Sambandh portal data.

The Public Procurement Policy 2012 stipulates that 4 per cent of the total procurement shall be done by ministries, departments and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) from micro and small entities owned by SC/ST.

Expressing concern over little procurement by CPSEs from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently prodded them to buy more from small units and also ensure timely payments.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the government is trying to address the issue of lower procurement from MSEs, especially the ones owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs, and the issue of delayed payment by PSUs through the Sambandh and the Samadhaan portals launched earlier.

MSME Secretary A K Panda said the ministry has written to all CPSEs to revisit their tendering process so that there should not be any entry barriers in procurement.

However, the procurement from all MSEs stood at Rs 261.02 billion in 2017-18, out of the overall procurement of Rs 1152.76 billion.

Panda said the Sambandh portal data for 2017-18 may be subject to revision going forward.

The Procurement Policy launched in 2012 mandates the Central Government Departments/CPSUs to procure necessarily from MSEs i.e. every Central Ministry / Department/PSU shall set an annual goal for procurement from the MSE sector at the beginning of the year, with the objective of achieving an overall procurement goal of minimum of 20 per cent of the total annual purchases of the products or services produced or rendered by MSEs.