New Delhi, Mar 20 (KNN) Union Minister of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has said that a proposal has been sent to the Finance Ministry suggesting measures for providing relief to MSMEs to diminish the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

"I have sent recommendations to the Finance Minister on how to protect the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)," Gadkari said while replying to a debate in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The MSME Minister also said that the sector is facing a big challenge on account of the coronavirus outbreak addding that "there has been impact of the COVID-19 on the MSME sector ...It is a natural calamity."

However the Minister refrain from sahrimg the details of the recomemdations, citing that it would not be fair on his part to reveal the details as a meeting is scheduled for Friday.

''Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called a meeting on Friday to discuss the proposals,'' Gadkari said.

So far, India has reported four deaths due to COVID-19 and the number of cases in the country has risen to 173.