New Delhi, May 16 (KNN) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that steps are being taken to clear dues of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The Finance Minister said that updates of pending payments are being regularly taken since last October fr0m departments and related PSUs and steps are being taken to clear the dues.

“Only the litigated dues are not being cleared, rest our effort is to clear all other dues…the process is continuing, it’s accumulated (dues) and the dues which are of present, have to handle both,” she said.

“I have spoken with the Expenditure Secretary thrice about the dues and to clear them,” she added.

MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that the government, state-run firms and private companies owe around Rs 5 lakh crore to MSMEs.

This combined amount is owed to MSMEs by the central government, state governments, central public sector enterprises (CPSE), state public sector undertakings (PSUs) and the private sector.

In last month April, Union Minister for MSME Nitin Gadkari had asked the industry to release payments due to MSMEs to help bring liquidity.

'MSMEs should be protected through this economic crisis,'' he had said.

Notably, in March last year, Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance had said that MSMEs dues should be cleared on a priority basis during the course of the resolution process.

The committee in its report tabled in the Parliament had said that on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, said certain amendments in the bill may lead to over-regulation of suppliers particularly MSMEs and hence, it must be avoided.

The committee further added delegated legislation through rules set-up by Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) should be adhered to address the needs and concerns of stakeholders.

"In this context, the Committee would like to emphasise that the payments due to MSMEs, who are operational creditors not included in the Committee of Creditors (CoC), should be ensured on priority in the course of the resolution process itself before the liquidation stage kicks in. The Committee would therefore recommend that the Clause 5(b) (2A) should accordingly be deleted," the report said.