New Delhi, Feb 1 (KNN) While retaining the allocation for the Ministry of MSME at the level of last year, Nirmala Sitharaman’s Interim Budget succinctly posited the future direction of MSME support. 

Elaborating on the Strategy for ‘Amirt Kaal’, the Finance Minister alluded to future policies to ensure timely and adequate finances and ‘’preparing the financial sector in terms of size, capacity, skills and regulatory framework’.

She also underscored the MSMEs’ needs of Technology, Training and ‘orienting regulatory environment to facilitate growth’.  

Welcoming the Interim Budget, President of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) Prashant Patel said, “Acknowledging the critical needs of MSMEs with regard to access to finance, technology and enabling regulatory environment, the Budget notes that the Government intends to come out with a clear set of policies for promotion and regulation to help MSMEs in key areas.”

In the pre-budget submission to the Government, FISME had highlighted that the prevailing financial architecture was not being able to serve green field manufacturing projects and fast-growing MSMEs and needed revamp. FISME had also highlighted the need for massive technology up-gradation in MSME clusters.

The FM noted in the Budget speech that it was an important policy priority for the Government to ensure timely and adequate finances and that to meet the investment needs, the Government would prepare the financial sector in terms of size, capacity, skills and regulatory framework.

She also mentioned the need for ‘relevant technologies and appropriate training for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to grow and also compete globally. Orienting the regulatory environment to facilitate their growth will be an important element of this policy mix.

“The Government intends to provide for the technology up-gradation needs of MSMEs and dovetail it with emerging requirements of resource efficiency and green energy,” adds FISME. 

After having shared the findings of the seminar ‘Reducing Cost of Litigation for MSMEs’, FISME in the pre-budget paper had suggested a set of measures to make the process of arbitration effective and affordable. New initiatives are expected.

FISME welcomed enhancing allocation for infrastructure by 11% boosting the total infra-spend to 3.4% of GDP. 

FISME feels that continued focus on housing in the Budget, with 2 crore more houses to be build next year, and new scheme for middle class living on rent to ‘build or buy’ new houses, would generate huge business opportunities for MSMEs.

“There are more than 60 MSME product categories that benefit directly from a housing boom, such as electrical and bathroom fittings and hardware, products of wood, glass and stone, furnishings, furniture, paints, among others,” President of FISME mentioned.

(KNN Bureau)