New Delhi: More than six lakh plus new registrations of minor, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been done since the new definition of MSME came into force from July 1, 2020, has said senior IAS officer and Secretary, Ministry of MSME, adding that almost 90 per cent of them have done so with PAN numbers.

Sharma, who was addressing the 6th annual general meeting of FICCI-CMSME, said: “Industry 4.0; Export promotion and import reduction; Re-engineering vertically and horizontally existing cluster schemes; Integrating technology centres within the ministries; and Aligning modernization schemes for strengthening of MSMEs, are the five verticals that have been identified by our department and task forces have been formed.”

Regarding the suggestions for MSME funding schemes, Sharma said: “We are aware of the MSME sector requirements and are in touch with the banking sector and the RBI in this regard. All facilities should be given as a package for the healthy growth of the sector. We don’t want to make it an endless process of interactions and consultations. We want to assure the sector that we are thinking and taking all possible steps that we can envisage to facilitate their smooth growth.”

“Each task force has been advised to report by October end, suggest restructuring and policy decisions needed by November and begin implementation of strategies by December. This has been done so that by the beginning of the next year we would already be on the path of implementing these futuristic initiatives,” added Sharma.  

Sanjay Bhatia, president, FICCI-CMSME and Managing Director, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd, said that when finance became the biggest hurdle in reopening of the units, the Ministry of MSME was instrumental in getting various schemes launched -- ECLGS, subordinate debt scheme, Fund of Funds (FoF), which not only catered to the stressed of the struggling MSMEs but also paved a way of growth for potential MSMEs. 

“When the FoF scheme comes out, it will certainly give support to the growth oriented MSMEs to flourish and contribute to the economy, including creating employment and upcoming workforce,"  added Bhatia. 

“The new definition for MSME has been a historic decision and FICCI CMSME had been advocating for bringing this change for a long time. The new definition will help the MSMEs to grow without the fear of losing the MSME status. We would also like to compliment the ministry’s efforts in simplifying registrations through Udyam,” he added.