MSME Share In GVA Rising, Higher Contribution To Exports Indicate Growing Intergration In Global Value Chain: SBI Economist

New Delhi, Feb 12 (KNN) The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has strengthened its role as a key pillar of India’s economy, with its share in the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA) rising to 30.1 percent in 2022-23, said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Advisor, State Bank of India (SBI), and Member, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM).

Speaking at the India SME Finance and Summit, Ghosh said the steady rise from 27.3 percent in 2021 underscores the sector’s resilience and expanding contribution to domestic economic activity, reported ANI.

He highlighted that MSME integration into global trade has also deepened, with MSME-related products accounting for 45.79 percent of India’s total exports in 2024-25, up from 43.5 percent in 2022-23.

The value of MSME exports witnessed a sharp increase, rising from Rs 3.95 lakh crore in 2021 to Rs 12.4 trillion in 2024-25. During the same period, the number of exporting MSMEs nearly tripled, growing from 52,849 in 2021 to 1,76,315 in 2024-25.

Ghosh said that these figures reinforce the role of MSMEs in positioning India as a global manufacturing hub and added that the sector has the potential to drive India’s ambition of becoming an export powerhouse.

"In India, in fact, interestingly, MSMEs have been traditionally defined based on investing in plant and machinery and equipment, which has since then largely given way to the wide system of factoring turnover-based criteria, which is a rational, transparent, easier-to-implement step with the introduction and operation tradition of the GST," he said.

He also noted that the inclusion of retail and wholesale trade under the MSME framework is expected to create stronger ecosystem synergies.

Highlighting formalisation trends, Ghosh said registrations on the Udyam and Udyam Assist portals have reached approximately 7.7 crore, compared to 6.6 crore units recorded in the 2016 survey.

Of this, 4.6 crore registrations are on the Udyam portal and 3.1 crore on Udyam Assist. Micro enterprises continue to dominate, accounting for 99 percent of total registered units.

The sector has generated around 34 crore jobs across categories. Trading accounts for 3.32 crore employees, services 2.38 crore and manufacturing 1.6 crore.

Emphasising inclusivity, Ghosh said around 40 percent, or 3.33 crore firms, are women-owned. Drawing a global comparison, he noted that in the United States, small and medium enterprises account for 99.9 percent of businesses and employ six out of every ten workers.

The data, he said, highlights the MSME sector’s growing economic weight, export competitiveness and role in employment generation.

(KNN Bureau)