New Delhi, Sep 10 (KNN) The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)  sector, which is expected to bring a turnover of around Rs 10 lakh crore over the next two to three years, is soon going to have an e-market place like Alibaba, said Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari.

“We are developing an e-market portal like Alibaba. We will call it Bharat Craft. This will provide a direct interface between buyers and sellers,’’ Gadkari said.

‘’In the next 2-3 years this portal will bring a turnover of about. 10 lakh crore to the MSME sector,” Gadkari added.

The government is focusing at the MSME sector as this sector have huge potential to generate income and employment, boost exports and its contribution to economic growth.

At present, MSMEs contribute around 29% to the country’s GDP and we will take it to 50%.

“We will take this to 50% in the next five years. The sector gives employment to about 11 crore people currently, we will take this to 15 crore in the next five years,” Gadkari said.

The government needs to think big and should come out with an effective measures, to achieve these goals.

“However, there is an urgent need to think big and energise the sector with new and innovative ideas and out-of-the-box thinking,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari said that multilateral banks like ADB, World Bank and KfW have agreed to provide low-cost funds for the sector.

“We must also work with cooperative banks, NBFCs (non-banking finance corporations), credit cooperative societies, Sidbi (Small Industries Development Bank of India) and financial corporations of state governments,” Gadkari added.

Commenting on the recent announcement of bank mergers, increasing liquidity of banks, transparent one-time settlement policy, online loan tracking, fast track collaboration for loans between PSBs, he said that it will benefit the sector.

“There is a lot of scope for diversification in the MSME sector,” Gadkari said.

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