Udyam Registration Portal Nears 5 Crore Milestone for MSME Registrations

New Delhi, Sep 3 (KNN) The government’s flagship portal for formalising the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, Udyam Registration, is close to achieving a significant milestone with nearly 5 crore registered enterprises.

As of the latest data, 4.98 crore MSMEs, including informal micro enterprises (IMEs) exempt from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, have been registered on the platform.

Out of the 4.98 crore registered MSMEs, a substantial 4.89 crore are micro enterprises. In contrast, small-sized enterprises make up 7.17 lakh, while medium enterprises account for only 68,042.

These figures highlight the predominance of micro enterprises within the sector, reflecting the varied scale and capacity of businesses that form the backbone of India's economy.

The approaching 5-crore milestone is particularly noteworthy, given that it has been reached in just over four years since the portal's launch on July 1, 2020.

The portal was established to streamline the registration process for MSMEs, granting them easier access to various government benefits, including priority lending from financial institutions.

To date, MSMEs registered on the Udyam portal have reported creating 21 crore jobs, underscoring the sector's vital role in employment generation and economic growth.

The Udyam Registration initiative represents a significant shift from previous systems, such as the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM) and Entrepreneurs Memorandum (EM-II), which were used for MSME registration.

The progress with Udyam Registration is evident when compared to earlier figures: the MSME Ministry’s 2020-21 annual report noted 21.96 lakh EM-II filings between 2007 and 2015. From September 2015 to June 30, 2020, nearly five years, 1.02 crore UAM registrations were recorded.

The sharp increase to nearly 5 crore registrations in a little over four years reflects the success of the Udyam initiative in formalising the sector.

To further boost registration numbers and bring more informal micro enterprises into the formal economy, the MSME Ministry launched the Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) in January 2023.

This platform allows informal micro enterprises to obtain Udyam certification based on their bank data. The government has also extended Udyam coverage to retail and wholesale trades, although benefits for these sectors are limited to priority sector lending by banks.

Priority lending involves mandatory lending targets set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure adequate credit support for critical sectors, including MSMEs.

(KNN Bureau)