MSMEs play a pivotal role in nation's development: Virbhadra Singh

New Delhi, Apr 6 (ANI): Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Virbhadra Singh, on Wednesday said MSMEs have been recognized as engine of growth and have played a pivotal role in the development of the country.

Addressing a seminar on Building A Competitive MSME Segment: Problems and Prospects organized by the PHD Chamber here, Singh said: " MSMEs provide huge employment potential at a low capital cost. The sector faces many difficulties in its quest for growth. These relate mainly to access to capital, technology, marketing, infrastructure, availability of critical information and simplified system and procedures."

"To address the concerns of MSMEs, the report of the Special Task Force has been sent to all concerned, including state governments, for implementation of the recommendations in a time-bound manner," he added.

The Minister further said that that to ensure better credit flow to MSMEs by minimizing the risk perception of banks and financial institutions in lending without collateral security, the Government is implementing the Credit Guarantee Scheme.

"The scheme provides guarantee cover of up to 85 per cent on collateral-free credit facility extended by lending institutions to new and existing MSMEs for loan up to Rs 100 lakh and more than 5.1 lakh proposals have been approved under the Scheme so far," he added.

He also called for attention towards medium-scale enterprises and said that these enterprises also need promotional schemes and an enabling environment like the small-scale industries to further augment the overall economic growth.

Virbhadra Singh further said that the Ministry has initiated 10 innovative schemes under the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme to assist MSMEs in improving their processes, design, technology and market access. Along with this it is also implementing the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme for assisting MSEs in upgrading their technology.

"There is a need to equip the youth with skills for giving them access to employment. Marketing is one of the important factors in the long-term sustainability of this sector," he added.

Singh urged the MSME associations to come forward and collaborate with the Ministry in the implementation of various government schemes successfully across the country. (ANI)